Kids
by antares.78
Summary: Her eyes stared at the picture on her desk, but her mind was far away from that room... someone was missing in those pictures... someone else would have to be in a frame on her desk... (Sequel to "Mothers") COMPLETE
1. Memories

**KIDS**

 **...**

 _This story is the sequel to MOTHERS, so it might not make much sense for those who didn't read that story first. If you didn't read it I suggest you to read that first. For those, however, who liked those 40 chapters... here I am ... as promised! I'm not going to revealing anything... apart from the flashforward of the first chapter then the story will come back where we left it, and, albeit with ups and downs, will always be strictly Huddy! I'll wait like always your reviews! And... the rate is always M... because I have no doubts anymore about your tastes! ;)_

 **...**

 **CHAPTER 1 - Memories**

 **...**

She was sitting in her office unable to focus on the document in front of her. Her eyes stared at the two pictures on her desk, but her mind was far away from that room.

 _We were so happy that day ..._ she thought looking at the picture of her wedding.

It wasn't a classic pose in front of a photographer. That picture had been taken by Wilson after the ceremony. She liked the spontaneity of that picture. House wrapping her waist and looking into her eyes with a look that still could send her a shiver down her spine. He hated wedding receptions as much as the ceremony in itself, and she knew it, but in that picture his smile was spontaneous and... just for her...

She smiled thinking about the emotions of that day. She could relive those emotions just by looking at that picture... as if they had been captured in a single shot.

That day was a sunny day on May and he had awakened her with a kiss... well... not just a kiss...

May 17th. Their second anniversary and now also their wedding anniversary.

Her gaze lingered on the other picture on her desk. House holding an asleep baby Grace and looking at a smiling Rachel beside him. Grace was just two months old.

She could remember the exact moment in which she had taken that picture. None of them was looking at the lens. House looked at Rachel, Rachel looked at Grace. And they smiled.

She smiled back at the memory of those long sleepless nights. It had been a year since that picture and those moments seemed now so far away.

 _Memories are always sweeter than reality..._ she thought... _in memories fears, fatigue, tears... everything fades, leaving only the warmth of good times... or a fade image of the bad ones..._

She touched those picture as if she could touch those moments of her life.

Her heart clenched as a thought invaded her mind ... someone was missing in those pictures... Someone else would have to be in a picture on her desk and... in its father's arms. But there would never be...

"Hey..." a voice woke her up from that thought. _His_ voice.

She looked up and for a moment her gray-blue eyes met House's piercing blue ones. She couldn't avoid biting her lower lip imperceptibly, and she looked down, avoiding his gaze.

House still look at her while she looked down.

"Let's go home?" he asked, approaching her.

Cuddy nodded and closed her computer.

Neither of them spoke as she wore her coat and they exited together from the Princeton-Plainsboro main door on that cold evening in late February.

 **...**

* * *

House went into Rachel and Grace's bedroom and his eyes tried to focus the images in the dark of the room. It was three in the morning.

Rachel was asleep in her bed. Cuddy sat in the rocking chair by the window holding Grace in her arms and rocking her slowly.

"Is she asleep?" He asked.

Cuddy nodded.

"Just a bad dream ..." she said as she stood up still watching the asleep baby in her arms. Every time she looked at her it seemed impossible that it had already been over a year since she had held her in her arms for the first time.

She stroked her soft brown curls and brushed her cheek with her lips while she put her in the crib, tucking the blanket.

"Come, let's go back to bed..." House said, reaching for her.

Cuddy slipped under the covers and shivered at the contact with the sheets.

House reached out to her and she clung to him looking for the warmth of his body, stroking his chest through his shirt. She missed the contact with his body ...

House stroked her arm and felt her relaxing in that caress...

He sought her eyes and bent to kiss her lightly, touching her lips...

He kept to look at her as if to ask permission before deepening the kiss.

She closed her eyes and kissed him back seeking and stroking his tongue.

He gently stroked her waist and slid his hand further down to stroke her inner thighs and the soft fabric of her lace panties. She whispered a _mmmhhhh_ to that caress continuing to kiss him in a long, deep, slow kiss.

Her body needed him... her mind was in desperate need of being relieved from the painful thoughts that crowded it...

House stroked her hip again, then moving up to caress her breasts.

His hand went back down her body savoring the feel of her skin beneath his fingers as his mouth didn't leave hers.

He loved her skin... he loved her body... he loved _her._

His hand stroked her slightly again and touched her belly. And she immediately _froze_.

Her tongue stopped in his mouth and she opened her eyes meeting the piercing blue of his.

She put a hand on House's chest, slightly pushing him away from her, while a lump clenched her throat more and more...

"I-I'm sorry..." she whispered, turning her head to avoid his gaze "I-I... c-can't..."

House looked at her and saw her eyes filling with tears again as she looked away.

"It's all right..." he whispered.

She couldn't look into his eyes. Looking at those eyes was too much painful. In those eyes she saw the same look of that night.

 _Those eyes..._

She loved those eyes...

Grace had those same eyes... right.. those same eyes... _Grace had those same eyes..._

House pulled her to him and held her in his arms while she hid her face on his chest.

He just held her as she sobbed against his chest and his shirt dampened with tears. He couldn't do anything else for her... just holding her tight.

He _should have_ protected her... he _wanted_ to protect her... but he had failed...

He didn't feel guilty. He had no guilt. But he felt helpless. Completely helpless in front of a destiny that they hadn't deserved.

 **...**

* * *

 _I know this is not what the most of you hoped to read... but I promise better days for them! It will be a "for better and for worst" journey! Keep reading and...please leave a review ;)_


	2. A special gift

_**Hello to everyone! Now the story is back where/when we left it in the last chapter of Mothers, and a year and a half before what happened in the first chapter of this story. This's just a sweet Huddy chapter... so... enjoy!**_

* * *

 **...**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2 - A special gift**

* * *

 **...**

* * *

 _One year and a half before_

...

* * *

 _November 22, 2011_

...

* * *

"Happy birthday, my love" House whispered approaching her from behind and leaning over to kiss her neck as she breastfed Grace, sitting on the armchair by the living room window.

The dim light of dawn seeped in through the window in that cold morning on November.

"Thank you" she said stroking his stubble as he caressed his daughter's cheek "Why are you already awake?"

"Foreman called... they need me at the hospital... but I'll be home early. I promise!" he said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Don't worry about _us_... we're fine" she answered.

"I know... but... I can't stay away from my girls" he said smiling and kissing her lightly on her lips "... and... since my _wicked witch_ boss is not at work..." he looked into her eyes with a raised eyebrow "I can spin _Jimmy_ as I want!" He laughed and kissed her again on the lips, nibbling at her lower lip.

Cuddy smiled and shook her head slightly.

"The _wicked witch_ loves you to death..." she said putting her hand on his nape and touching his tongue lightly.

 **...**

* * *

"Marina" House said entering the kitchen and watching her as she tidied up.

She turned and smiled. The house was strangely silent and Marina sensed his question before he opened his mouth.

"Mrs. House went to pick up Rachel for a sleepover an hour ago, Dr. House." He said referring to his mother "Grace is sleeping and Dr. Cuddy is resting too..." she added "They're in your bedroom."

House nodded.

"Ok" he said "You can go home, Marina. I'll deal with the dinner... See you tomorrow" he added as Marina nodded in turn.

 **...**

* * *

House opened the bedroom door slowly and looked at her as she slept. She was curled up on the bed still fully dressed. She would never admit it, but she was tired... basically, like any newborn, Grace ate every 3 or 4 hours, both during day and night, so she practically hasn't been sleeping for a week...

He covered her with a blanket and stood looking at her and then at Grace who was sleeping in the cot next to their bed.

He smiled thinking about the words he had told her during Safford Wells' wedding and that she had repeated him by heart, _word for word_ , when he had proposed to her.

... _The only reason anyone gets married is that homo erectus females needed protection from predators while breast feeding_...

 _There is no escaping from human nature,_ he never would have thought that a selfish misanthrope like him would be completely melted for those two women ... actually... _three_...

He looked again at Grace who moved slightly in her cot ... eyes closed, mouth opened and arms bent at the sides of her head with clenched little fists.

...He loved them as he had never loved in his life and it was a feeling entirely new to him... they came first of everything ... even first of himself. And he felt an inexplicable need to protect them... he didn't feel _forced_ to protect them... he _wanted to_ protect them ... they were all his life...

The feeble crying of his daughter shook him from that thought. Not a desperate crying but just some weak whimpers... enough to wake Cuddy...

He saw her running a hand over her face at the sound of her daughter's crying and House took the baby in his arms supporting her little head. She was so tiny in his hands.

"Keep sleeping, Lisa" he said leaning Grace against his chest and stroking her to soothe her back to sleep "I'll deal with her."

"Thank you..." Cuddy whispered wrapping herself tighter in the blanket.

House looked at Cuddy, still rocking Grace, and watching her as she closed her eyes again. He kissed Grace's forehead savoring her scent.

"Come, _shorty_ " he whispered "Let's go to prepare a thing" he said settling her head better against his chest and holding her with one hand as he took his cane with the other one and left the room, closing the door quietly.

 **...**

* * *

Cuddy walked into the kitchen about two hours later.

"Hey..." she said approaching him as he cooked. Grace was blissfully asleep in her pram.

House turned toward her, wiping his hands on a dish towel.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked smiling slightly.

"I feel like I slept for a century..." she said running a hand over her face "...what time is it?" she asked

"Almost half past 8 pm" he said walking close to her.

Cuddy looked at him in disbelief. It's seem impossible to have slept so much.

"Grace?" She said, turning toward the pram.

House wrapped her shoulders with one arm and kissed her lightly on the lips, looking into her eyes.

"She's sated. Clean. Asleep..." he said on hers lips "... and dinner is ready, _Mom_ "

She smiled and kissed him on the lips putting her arms around his neck.

"Have I already told you how much I love you?" She said, breaking away from his mouth.

"At least two thousand times..." he said "... but don't stop" he added, smiling and making her smile looking again for her lips for a long kiss.

"Come..." he said breaking away from her mouth and leading her into the dining room.

Cuddy looked at the table set for two and at the candle in the center of it, and then looked at House.

"If we are lucky she'll let us to have dinner" he kissed her temple, referring to Grace "I swear to you that I haven't given her the sleeping pills I gave your mother last year, Cuddy!" he added, laughing.

She laughed and put her arms again around his neck.

"Thanks..." she said putting herself on tiptoe to kiss him gently on the lips.

 **...**

* * *

"Is there, by chance, something you can't do well?" She asked smiling, tasting the last spoonful of _tiramisu_. "This is really wonderful" she laughed.

House looked at her and let out a laugh.

"I prefer it... in this way ..." He replied leaning toward her across the table to kiss her, savoring the taste of cream, chocolate and coffee on her tongue as she put a hand behind his head to make that deeper kiss. A _mmmhhh_ escaped from her mouth as he kissed her and House smiled.

"So... it wasn't just pregnancy hormones effect..." he whispered breaking away from her lips and looking at her with a mischievous look.

"Definitely... _not_ " she answered, smiling and kissing him lightly on the lips.

"I don't know how I can stand these weeks of abstinence, Cuddy!" he said, laughing "but... now you have someone else demanding your attention" he laughed again hearing Grace's crying.

She kissed him gently on the lips before getting up to take the baby from her pram.

House looked at her as she sat in the armchair in the living room to nurse her not averting her eyes from the baby in her arms. She lifted her shirt and Grace's crying stopped immediately as soon as she found her mother's nipple. Cuddy continued to look at her, stroking her little hand which was resting on her breast, but she looked up at House feeling his eyes on herself.

"What?" She asked him with the hint of a smile.

He looked at her smiling in turn and shook his head slightly as if to say... _nothing_ ... before whispering in the most natural tone in the world...

"You're beautiful..."

Cuddy looked into his eyes and smiled slightly again, biting her lower lip.

He told it often... he often said ... _God, you're so beautiful_... but generally he said it when they made love and the look in his eyes at such times was _very_ different.

Now... his look was the same of that morning in her hospital room after Grace's birth ... when he had said _"... If I even could imagine that you and I together could do something so beautiful... I would have done it twenty years ago..."_ ... and again, like that morning, she felt a chill down her spine.

It wasn't the same Gregory House that she had known for years... or rather ... it was the same Gregory House... same jokes, same sarcasm... but now he alternated his sarcastic side to one side that she didn't know and that she was gradually beginning to discover.

That was the hidden side of which Blythe had told her... that was the side that, for years, he had been afraid to show.

He himself was surprised of the words that came out of his mouth. Like that day, even now, those two words were come out from his lips as if he thought out loud. For years he had weighed every word... he had always been very good at hiding his feelings, and everything he said had always been carefully considered and evaluated... he didn't simply let go of emotions... But now it was as if, increasingly, there was a direct connection between his thoughts and his vocal cords. He no longer felt the need to protect himself _from her_...

"I rephrase" he said, smiling at her and slowly enunciating the words " _You two_ are beautiful..."

Cuddy didn't answer but smiled at him before looking back at Grace. She kept her small blue eyes opened as she suckled the milk and Cuddy couldn't help but look at her.

House loved the way her eyes smiled along with her lips. In hospital she often smiled, but it wasn't the same smile... often her mouth smiled, but her eyes didn't... just circumstance smiles... But he knew _her_ smile... that _smile_.

House continued to look at them thinking about how different _that_ Lisa was from _the Dean-of-Medicine_ Lisa. Two sides of the same person ... _one._.. authoritarian, resolute, stubborn, impeccable... the other one... sensitive, sweet... and he loved both of them.

When she had adopted Rachel, he had been _jealous_ of how that child attracted Cuddy's attention on herself, turning it away from him... now, as he watched his woman hugging his daughter, he didn't feel the same... he didn't feel _jealousy_ but only _love_... for both of them.

"Would you like to hold her?" Cuddy said, after a while, awakening him from his thoughts as she set the baby girl on her shoulder gently patting on her back.

"Sure" he replied approaching to take her "Come here... _baby monster_..." he said leaning her on his chest to soothe her to sleep.

Cuddy glared at him.

"She's not _a monster_ " she said.

House smiled and stroked his daughter's back, however, bending down slightly to kiss Cuddy on the lips before turning around and take a few steps around the room.

Cuddy looked at them and smiled as she heard him whispering almost imperceptibly into Grace's ear "Dad has a reputation to uphold, _baby,_ but he loves you to death"

 **...**

* * *

House looked at Cuddy as she put on her pajamas and checked on Grace in her cot before going to bed.

"If I'm lucky she let me sleep at least three hours" she said, smiling and slipping under the covers.

"Sorry, I don't have _those_!" House said laughing looking at her breasts "But you should breastfeed more often, Cuddy. two-sizes-larger Patty and Selma are ecstasy for my eyes" he laughed again.

"Yeah" she laughed "But just for your eyes" she said with a mischievous look "In a few weeks you won't think the same, House" she laughed again.

"I still have the cup-D-bra nurse in my department to console me till you are _operating_ again" he said seriously, but letting out a smile.

She glared at him and hit him on the arm... stronger than she wanted.

"Don't you dare, House" she replied "I'm sure that after so many years of training your hand still remember how to do it" she added seriously.

House looked into her eyes. She was serious. She was annoyed. She was... _jealous_.

He smiled and reached out for her putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Are you really jealous?" He asked, looking into her eyes while she bit her lip.

She didn't answer and just continued to look at him. He let out a laugh.

"I was kidding, Cuddy" he laughed "Do you really think I can't stay a few weeks without sex?" He said, kissing her slightly on the lips again.

She smiled slightly.

"Sorry..." she whispered on his lips stroking his face "I hate my hormones..." she added, hinting another smile.

"I have something for you..." he said moving away from her lips and taking a little box from the nightstand drawer "Happy birthday" he said, handing it to her.

She looked at him with an amazed look and hesitated before taking it, still staring at that little box wrapped in silver paper with a blue bow.

"It's a gift box, Cuddy! Don't worry, it's not going to explode!" House said laughing.

She looked at him and smiled taking the little box from his hands.

"It's just that... I thought I already got my present this morning... and the dinner tonight..." she said looking into his eyes.

"The one of this morning was from the kids" he said.

Cuddy looked down and felt a tear rolling down her cheek as she thought back to the bouquet of white roses that Rachel had given her that morning. The note said... _Happy Birthday Mommy. Love. Rachel and Grace_.

"You've already cried this morning for that, Cuddy" House said laughing stroking her cheek and wiping her tears with his thumb.

She laughed. Laugh and tears mixed together.

"The dinner... _and this_... are my gifts ... _my_ beautiful _forty-two year old_ "

Cuddy smiled.

"Thanks" she said, looking into her eyes and beginning to unwrap her gift.

She touched lightly that white gold bracelet that stood out against the dark blue velvet box. Three small white gold pendants hung from the bracelet.

She touched them with her finger tip.

A little white gold heart with a hand-print on it and a pink heart-shaped zircon. On the back...a carved name... _Rachel._

Another heart like the first one... on its back the inscription... _Grace._

And... _a cube_.

She smiled.

A little cube as the Scrabble cubes with whom he had proposed her to marry him... and had told her his unique ' _I love you'_ for the first time.

And the letters carved on that cube were not random. She turned it among her fingers and smiled biting her lip again and looking at those four letters, one on each side face of the nut. _L ... O ... B ... E_ ... An _I_ on the upper surface, an _U_ on the bottom one.

"Oh God ,Greg... it's beautiful..." she whispered as her eyes misted again "Thank you..."she added, kissing him gently on the lips, and putting a hand behind his head enjoying the contact with his lips.

She looked into his eye while she left his mouth and smiled running her tongue over her lips.

"You never do gifts on anniversaries" she said still smiling, looking into his eyes with a questioning look.

"I made an exception ..." he said "... for the woman who gave me the best thing I could ever want." he added, while the blue of his eyes merged with the gray-blue of hers.

He was of course referring _to Grace_ , but also to that _happiness_ that he had chased during all his life without even remotely being able to get it.

He saw her biting her lip again as her eyes filled with tears.

"You're a wonderful man, Greg ..."

He laughed and stroked her face with his hand wiping away the tears that were beginning to roll down her cheeks.

"It's not what people think of me in hospital." He said, shaking his head and letting out another laugh.

"You are" she whispered, stroking his stubble "... and whoever says otherwise is an idiot, my love..." she added, canceling the distance between their lips again and this time looking for his tongue, abandoning herself to a long kiss.


	3. Dad

_**Here I am again! ;) Did someone ask for more Rachel? More Daddy House? Here you go! Enjoy!**_

* * *

 **...**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 3 - Dad**

* * *

 **...**

House opened the front door and Rachel ran into abandoning her Dora the Explorer backpack near the door and leaving a trail of clothing as she ran down the hallway toward the kitchen.

The cap. A wool glove. Another wool glove...

House smiled and shook his head slightly as he bent over to pick them up and took off his coat.

He looked at Rachel who was trying to take off her scarf and he felt her snorting as she stopped and went back toward him continuing _to argue_ with the scarf.

"Help Dad..." she said looking at him with her big eyes still pulling one end of the scarf wrapping it tighter around her neck. A mixture of anger and frustration darkened her eyes as she lost patience and clutched her lips in a flat line. _Three... two... one..._

She bit her lower lip as tears appeared in her eyes and House let out a laugh.

"It's not a _Boa Constrictor_ , Rachel" House said, smiling and shaking his head as he freed her from the scarf.

Rachel smiled and wiped her nose with her hand before hugging House's good leg and running back to the kitchen, leaving this time along the short route her coat and one shoe.

House rolled his eyes before picking up the rest of her clothes and follow her into the kitchen. He met Cuddy's gaze as he entered. Rachel was sitting on her legs and was already telling her about her day at the kindergarten, moving her hands as she described every detail of her day.

"Someone have had a bad influence on her" Cuddy said laughing, looking at the shoe abandoned near the kitchen door and at the other one in House's hand before meeting his eyes.

"Who?" he laughed, bending down to kiss her lightly on the lips "Gracy?"

Cuddy smiled, nodding her head.

"Sure... her" she said, stroking his stubble and giving him another soft kiss on the lips.

 **...**

* * *

"Please, tell me I can make a blowup and attach it along the hospital walls!" Cuddy said, laughing as she looked at the picture she had just taken with her cell. "Your look is priceless!" she laughed again.

House turned to face her. She was leaning with her back against the door frame.

"Tell me why she has to pee just when I'm changing her diaper?" He said, looking at Cuddy and then again at his daughter.

"Look on the bright side" she said, smiling "you're lucky it's not a boy" she added approaching them and stroking Grace's tummy, giving her a kiss on her little head and lingering with her lips in her soft hair, savoring her scent.

"Did I use to pee on you too when I _was_ a baby, Daddy?" Rachel asked, raising her head to look at him while the hood of her pink terry bathrobe fell down over her eyes.

House laughed and looked at her, rubbing her wet hair with the bathrobe hood before removing it, and glanced at Cuddy who was dressing Grace on the changing table.

"No" he said, smiling at her "But once... you puked on me" he said, laughing and ruffling her hair.

"Yuck!" Rachel said, grimacing.

House met Lisa's gaze and smiled before Rachel captured their attention again.

"Rachel, don't!" Cuddy exclaimed as she took off her bathrobe "... you'll take a cold"

House rolled his eyes as Rachel ran, naked, toward the drawer, opening it and beginning to look inside for getting dressed by herself.

"I got it" House said gently shaking his head and smiling.

"I'm a _big girl_... I can do it by myself" Rachel said, pouting, while House slipped the shirt on her head.

"I know... but if you get sick your mother will get angry with me" he replied

"If I get sick... you'll cure me" she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

House smiled.

"You always want the last word, don't you?" He laughed, zipping her sweatshirt and ruffling her hair again "Who knows after whom you took it?" he added, laughing, raising an eyebrow and turned to look at Cuddy, who smiled back, shaking her head slightly.

 **...**

* * *

"She's really more and more beautiful every day, Lisa" Blythe said looking at her two-months-old granddaughter as she held her in her arms.

Cuddy didn't answer, but turned to her and smiled, before turning again and pouring some coffee into the cups in front of her.

"She has Greg's eyes" Blythe said.

"Definitely" Cuddy said smiling as she leaned the three cups one by one on the table.

Grace really had the same blue eyes of her father. The same piercing blue. Cuddy had always loved those eyes and now she loved to see them on her daughter's little face.

"You're lucky, Cuddy!" House laughed, walking into the kitchen after he had put Rachel in bed. He put an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple "She could have taken her eyes after... who knows... _Taub!_ " he laughed again earning a slap on his arm.

Cuddy looked at him, unable to suppress a smile.

"Sure" she replied "In Taub's dreams!"

"Always very _modest_ , Dr. Cuddy!" he said, looking straight at her with a mischievous look.

"Careful ... or you'll be the one _to dream on_ , House!" she answered in kind , holding his gaze and running her tongue over her lips.

House hold her gaze before turning to his mother.

"She's still the proud stubborn person she was" he said laughing.

"People don't change" Cuddy said looking at him straight in the eyes with a challenge look.

She kept to hold House's look, but her lips opened in a smile as he wrapped her shoulders with his arm and kissed her temple.

Blythe said nothing, but just looked at them with an amused look. She liked their bickering and the way they constantly teased each other. She liked the way in which Lisa could stand up to his son. She liked the way in which he used to tease and make fun of her, respecting her at the same time.

She thought back for a moment at when, less than a year before, she had told him _"_ _Don't let your pride keep you away from the love of your life"_ He had never allowed her to intrude in his life. For years he had blamed her for not having defended him by his father when he was just a child. She herself felt guilty. She wasn't like Lisa... she hadn't been able to stand up to her husband... And, as an adult, her son had never allowed her to give him any advice... _except_ _that time_... and that had reconnected them. She had found her son again, she had gained _a daughter_ and two beautiful _granddaughters_.

She hugged Grace and kissed her little head.

She liked that look in her son's eyes. She liked the way he looked at Lisa... there was not only love, but... even complicity, in that look. And she liked the way he looked at Grace and Rachel. She had no doubt... he wouldn't do his father's mistakes. She knew that look in her son's eyes and it was... pure love.

 **...**

* * *

"Why is she crying?" He asked entering the living room, hearing the desperate crying of his daughter. It was half past 3 in the morning and the room was dim.

"I wish I knew" Cuddy said, continuing to walk around the room and rock her "I've nursed her, cleaned her ... I really don't know what's wrong with her, Greg" she added, running a hand over her forehead "She has been crying for more than an hour and I can't calm her down... maybe it's a stomach ache... but... I don't know what to do... "

House looked at her. She was visibly tired, and he saw her eyes misting with tears.

"Why haven't you waken me up?" he asked, approaching her.

"You worked late into the night over the last few days..." she said biting her lip.

"Ok" he said reaching for the baby "Here... give her to me... you need to sleep... if she's hungry I'll give her a bottle... she has to get used to it, sooner or later..."

Cuddy nodded and ran her hand again on her face before kissing him lightly on the lips.

House looked at her as she left the room and then looked at Grace.

"What's wrong, baby?" he asked as she kept crying continuously. Her face was red from crying and her little hands were clenched into fists.

He rested her, facedown, on his forearm and rubbed her back, feeling her relaxing at that caress. She was still crying, but her weeping was different, less hysterical.

He, Gregory House, roaming at night with a crying baby in his arms... He would never have believed it could happen.

He placed her again against his chest, her little head resting on his shoulder, and continued to caress and rock her. Although she was already two months old, his hand was still huge compared to her little body.

When he had known about Cuddy's pregnancy, he had been caught off guard... he didn't know if he wanted to be a father... or not. Part of him wanted that little girl from the first moment... a part of him not. He was afraid of failing. To fail as a father. To not be up to it. He had always been a mess and he didn't want to mess up the life of another human being. And yet... the first time he had felt her kicking in her mother's belly he had known that there would be a special bond between them... that there was already a special bond between them...

 _"Shhh..."_ he whispered, kissing her head and holding her tightly against his chest as he sat down on the armchair by the window _. "Shhh..."_ he repeated stroking her back while she relaxed in his arms and slowly fell asleep letting him fall asleep with her.

 **...**

* * *

Cuddy walked into the living room the next morning and stopped to look at them. It was only 6 in the morning... but sleeping three hours in a row seemed now a lot of time to her...

She smiled, looking at Grace, blissfully asleep on House's chest. He had fallen asleep in turn.

No... she never imagined that the grumpy doctor she had hired ten years earlier could be a loving husband and father. Well... _quasi husband_. She laughed at the thought that, actually, he was still that same grumpy diagnostician... but he had allowed her to see a side of him that none was allowed to see.

She went into the kitchen and made coffee, savoring the intense aroma that filled the room as she poured herself a cup.

She went back into the living room and gently took Grace from House's arms, placing her in the pram. She moved a little as she lost the warmth of that body which gave her a great sense of protection, but continued to sleep under her pink wool blanket, handmade by grandma Blythe. House continued to sleep too, and Cuddy approached him, holding back the irresistible desire to kiss him, even just on the cheek, as she covered him with a blanket.

She went back in the kitchen and took a sip of that aromatic black liquid. For months she couldn't even get close to it and yet she had always loved it. _Coffee._ She thought back to that coffee that he had offered her in his apartment, the morning in which he had found her asleep on his couch... and she thought back to the coffee he had offered her in his office, when he thought she had had an abortion... less than a year ago... but now those moments seemed so far.

"Good morning, _Sunshine_ " he said, hugging her from behind and kissing her neck resting his head in the crook of her neck to let her caressing his stubble and neck.

Even _that_ had become an increasingly common gesture since they were back together... from that kiss in a hotel room in Baltimore.

"Good morning" she said "Sorry... I didn't mean to wake you up..."

He smiled again and kissed her neck.

"I'll forgive you, if there's a bit of that for me too" he replied taking the cup from her hands and taking a sip.

Cuddy looked at him as he drank, grimacing and then giving her back the cup. She let out a laugh.

"God, Cuddy" he said looking into her eyes "Do you think a bit of sugar would kill you?"

She laughed.

"No. I always take it like this, remember?" She said, putting her arms around his neck "And... I have to get into my wedding dress..." she added with a smile, running her tongue over her lips.

He looked into her eyes and smiled... a slightly mischievous smile.

"I can read that joke in your eyes" she said, laughing and looking into his eyes.

"Because... I'm too much predictable" he said on her lips.

"Because... I know you too well" Cuddy said.

House brushed her lips with his, then brushing them with his tongue. She continued to look into his eyes. The shiver she felt every time in her lower belly was still there ... amplified by the fact that they haven't had sex since Grace's birth, more than two months earlier... She lightly opened her lips touching his tongue in a tacit agreement. And he welcomed her invitation looking deeper for her tongue and letting their tongues caress each other with increasing passion.

She could feel his erection as he held her in his arms and kissed her.

She looked into his eyes as she slipped her hand under his shirt to stroke the skin of his chest. He recognized that light in her eyes, but he wait for her to take the lead. He wanted her madly, but he hadn't wanted to force her in recent weeks.

Cuddy took off his shirt and bit her lip, then kissing him on the lips.

"Make love to me..." she whispered on his lips looking into his eyes. And that was all the encouragement he needed.

He took off her nightgown and unhooked her bra, gently caressing her breasts and then moving down to stroke her hip before pushing her on the couch. He stood for a moment, watching her only in her panties. It had been two months and it didn't look like she had given birth. Except for her two sizes larger breast. He peeled off her panties looking into her eyes and saw her biting her lip imperceptibly.

"You're so beautiful..." he whispered, reading her thoughts, bending to kiss her lightly on the lips before taking off his pants.

He spreads her legs slightly and lay down on her, kissing her on the mouth and caressing her hip again.

"Oh God... Greg" she whispered embracing him tighter as he kissed her neck. She could feel the tip of his penis pressing against her entrance and that feeling drove her crazy in anticipation.

He could feel her moving slightly under him, and he couldn't stand.

He met her gaze as he slowly penetrated her and saw her closing her eyes to that feeling as she dragged her nails into his back.

"Oh God... yes..." she whispered to the feeling of him inside her.

He kissed her passionately on the mouth as he moved slowly and deeply into her, however, gradually increasing his pace, meeting hers.

He could hear her breathing become more labored and she could hear his.

 _No... they hadn't lost their harmony..._

"Oh Greg...yes" he heard her moan while her legs began to tremble and he thrust deeper into her.

He knew she was close, and he knew he wouldn't last long, but he wanted to hear her screaming.

He thrust again into her and she moaned louder, hiding her face in the crook of his neck to keep from screaming while a strong orgasm overwhelmed her. He couldn't stand and looked at her for a moment as he came, letting go to an intense orgasm.

"God...honey..." he whispered breathlessly on her chest while she stroked his head, her legs still wrapped around him.

She smiled still stroking him.

"I missed you..." he whispered looking for her tongue again and stroking her leg.

"Me too..." she said, smiling on his lips.

"Let's say... you've definitely made amends for waking me up, Cuddy" he laughed, kissing her again.

She laughed in turn.

"Let's say... now you really deserve that coffee"


	4. Thoughts

**Just a short Huddy chapter. Enjoy!**

 **...**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 4 - Thoughts**

 **...**

* * *

 _Two months later_

 _..._

* * *

"What are you thinking about?" He asked walking into the kid's bedroom and looking at Cuddy as she stared at an asleep Grace stroking her hair gently. 

"Mhhh?" She said turning to him.

House approached her and wrapped her shoulders with his arm.

"You okay?" He asked, looking into her eyes.

"Sure" She replied kissing him tenderly on the lips and intertwining her fingers with his as they left the room together.

House watched her as she undressed for bed and slipped under the covers.

He turned toward her and stroked her hip, savoring the feeling of the soft silk beneath his fingers.

"So... what is it?" He asked again.

"Nothing..." she answered softly shaking lightly her head.

"After almost two years you should know that I can ever tell when you lies, Cuddy" he said, still stroking her hip.

"I'm not lying..." she said, looking into his eyes "I was just thinking about..." she paused and stroked his stubble "...exactly one year ago... I found out I was pregnant" she said, biting her lip "and... that day completely changed my life... "

He looked at her.

" _Our._.." he said, smiling and looking for her lips.

"Right" she replied, smiling back as he found this time her tongue in a long kiss.

He paused, breaking away from her lips and looking into her eyes before kissing her neck.

She savored that kiss that sent shivers down her spine, and stroked his neck, holding his head in place against her neck, silently telling him not to stop. He sucked on her skin behind her ear and she couldn't repress a moan... and even the clench in her private parts.

" _Mmmhhh_... Greg..." she whispered holding him tighter "... I thought... _oh God_ ... your... y-your leg hur..." She said failing to prevent that moans mixed with words as he continued to torture her neck.

House smiled and raised his head to kiss her again on the lips.

"You're my Vicodin, Lisa" he said on her lips without giving her time to reply as he slipped his tongue into her mouth.

House slipped a hand under her chemise and in her panties. The heat between her legs drove him crazy... and even more the thought that he could arouse her so much just kissing her.

"You..." he said, caressing her between her legs "... you're _definitely_ much better than Vicodin" he said with a mischievous look, looking straight into her eyes as her pupils dilated and she looked for his mouth again.

She pushed him on his back and looked into his eyes again as she straddled over him, careful on not be heavy on his aching leg. She kissed him again before moving to take off in a single gesture his pajama pants and his boxers.

She stroked his scar with her fingertips and bent to kiss his leg as she had done on that night of nearly two years earlier, before wrapping his erection with her hand and starting to massage him.

"God, Lisa..." he groaned as she bent over him taking him into her mouth.

He put his hands in her hair favoring the movements of her head while she continued to arouse him, taking him deeper into her mouth and increasing her pace, clearly hearing his breathing become more and more labored.

"Lisa... don't..." he said as he articulating words became difficult, feeling his climax close.

He clenched her hair in his hands, but she ignored him. He knew she wanted to give him pleasure without straining his leg.

She wrapped her hand tighter around him and he tilted his head back as he couldn't restrain himself, pouring himself into her mouth with a hoarse moan.

"God..." he groaned again as his breathing was still labored, taking her by her arms and pulling her to himself to kiss her passionately on the mouth. She rolled over to his side, putting her arms around his neck as she kissed him.

House laughed. "It wasn't _that one_ the aching leg, Cuddy!" He said making her laugh in turn and holding her in his arms, lifting her chemise to caress her bottom and back.

"Stupid" she said, still laughing, slapping his chest lightly.

He caressed her again and rolled her on her back, feeling goose bumps rise on her smooth skin as his fingers touched her.

"You're so beautiful..." he whispered looking into her eyes while the deep tone of his voice sent a shiver down her spine. He bent his head to kiss her neck, suddenly slipping his hand into her panties and a finger inside her, making her back arch.

"Oh God..." she moaned "Greg ... _no._.." she moaned arching her back even more as he slipped another finger into her "... oh God..." she repeated, closing her eyes as he looked for her mouth, still arousing her with his fingers.

" _No?_ " He asked with a mischievous look, smiling on her lips as she opened her eyes and met his gaze "It seems much more a _'yes'_ to me, Lisa" he added with the same look, not stopping his fingers.

He saw her smiling before she shut her eyes, arching her back again, as her breathing became more and more labored. _God,_ _how much he liked that look on her face!_ ... He sped the pace as she arched her back more and lifted her chemise more, baring her breasts and bending down to tease one of her nipples with his tongue.

That feeling was enough to send her to her edge, and he kissed her on the mouth trapping her moans as a powerful orgasm overwhelmed her.

" _Holy Christ!_..." She whispered hugging him while she could still feel her most intimate part clenching.

House laughed.

"You're Jewish" he said, laughing and nibbling at her lower lip.

She laughed in turn.

"You make me forget it..." she laughed, kissing him again.

She hugged him and rested her head on his chest.

"How's your leg?" she asked after a few minutes.

"I'm fine... don't be worried about it" he softly replied stroking her hair "But...you're _terrific_ , _Dr. Cuddy_!" he added, laughing "A couple of times a day of your _ministrations_ and I'll no longer need my cane" he laughed again.

She laughed, still stroking his chest.

"When it hurts... you know where to find me" she replied laughing.

"Careful!" He replied lifting her face to look into her eyes "I could take your word!" He laughed again giving her a tender kiss on the lips.

He kept to look at her straight in the eyes.

"What?" She asked, unable to decipher his look. Sometimes he passed so quickly from a joke to a serious subject that she couldn't keep up with him.

"Nothing..." He replied "I was just thinking about something..."

"What?" She asked, stroking his stubble.

"... Are you...avoiding my sperm?" He asked with a mischievous look.

"Well ..." she laughed "... definitely _not_ , _House_ " She replied, raising an eyebrow with a mischievous look running her tongue over her lips.

House laughed.

"Well...yeah, right!" he laughed again "actually... not literally... " he laughed.

He looked into her eyes.

"Let's have another baby..." he said, not looking away.

She smiled and let out a laugh.

"Grace is... just three months old, Greg..." She replied.

He looked at her, seriously.

"I know" he replied "But... let's have another baby..." he repeated, moving a lock of hair from her face.

The tone of his voice struck her. It wasn't a question. It wasn't an imposition. It was a _desire. A desire said aloud._

"Greg ... I'm 44..." she replied hesitatingly.

"Exactly..." he said.

"I don't know..." she hesitated again.

House said nothing, but nodded his head while continuing to look at her and kissed her lightly on the lips.

She continued to look into his eyes. That request wasn't entirely unexpected in reality.

She thought back to his _"my mother_ _wants to be sure not to miss the birth of her first grandchild_ _",_ the same day he had proposed to her to marry him. And then to that _"it means that we'll have another kid, Cuddy!"_ , only a few days before Grace's birth.

That request wasn't entirely unexpected, but yet it had caught her completely unprepared.

She looked into his eyes again. He wasn't angry... he was _sorry_. She slightly bit her lip before resting her head on his chest again, feeling the touch of his hand caressing her arm.


	5. Two hearts

**CHAPTER 5 - Two hearts**

 **...**

* * *

Cuddy was in her office, staring at the computer screen as she checked the data on the report for the Board meeting of the next day, fiddling with the charm bracelet on her wrist.

She looked down at those two little white gold heart-shaped charms and turned them between her fingers.

They hadn't broached the subject since that evening. A part of her wanted another child... another part was rather afraid by that idea. Grace had arrived without warning... they hadn't tried to have her... honestly, after in vitro fertilization years before, she had thought she couldn't have children... now it was different. He wanted another child... she didn't know if she would be able to give him another baby...

The phone on her desk rang distracting her from that thought.

"Hey" the voice on the other end of the phone said.

"Hi" she said as a smile appeared on her lips at the mere sound of his voice. "What have you done this time, House?" She said letting out a laugh.

"Why must I have done something?" He laughed in turn "I just wanted to check on you! Just in case you were planning about running away just a few days before our wedding, Cuddy" He replied.

"Well... me... definitely not" she said laughing "... I'm rather worried about _you_ , House"

House laughed in turn.

"And missing my gorgeous bride in her wedding dress? Definitely not, Cuddy!" he laughed again.

She ran her tongue on her lips.

"I've been knowing you for twenty years, House" she laughed "I don't think you're really very interested in my wedding dress" she added.

"You underestimate me, Cuddy" He replied "I'm interested in your wedding dress... and... in my bride's body under that dress" he laughed.

"Ah ok!" She laughed "Like this it's more credible" she said, shaking her head slightly.

"Come to lunch, _boss_?" He asked "Or... are you afraid not to get into that dress?" he added, laughing.

"Of course I'm coming for lunch" she answered, smiling.

 **...**

* * *

She rolled over in bed and opened her eyes slightly. It was still dark and only the faint light of the street lamps seeped in through the window. She looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table... it wasn't six in the morning yet. She smiled as she wrapped herself tighter in the sheets.

A hand stroked her thigh slightly, lifting her silk chemise and looking for her skin. She wasn't wearing anything else under that chemise.

"Aren't you sleeping?" He whispered mischievously in her ear, kissing her neck.

She smiled even more.

"Not even you..." she said as his hand continued to fondle her.

He caressed her breasts and then move down again on her belly, and lower down between her legs.

"I hope even _my wife_ will forget to wear panties" he said fondling her between her legs.

She laughed.

"I'll tell _her_ " she answered "...but only if you'll do _her_ what you did _to me_ last night" she added archly.

"I'd do that to you even right now" he said looking for her tongue "Especially if you use _this tone_ with me..."

She turned toward him, smiling and putting her arms around his neck. He could just see her smile and her eyes in the dim light, but he knew she was smiling and that her eyes were smiling too.

Grace's crying kept them from that intimate moment and Cuddy sighed, leaning her forehead against House's and then kissing him tenderly on the lips.

"Hold that thought for tonight, my love" she whispered on his lips.

He smiled.

"I have more of _one thought_ in store for this _first night with my wife_ " he replied kissing her again on the lips.

"Me too..." she replied.

 **...**

* * *

"Are you sure I'll find the place?" She asked as he wrapped her waist with his hands and kissed her lightly on the lips on the doorstep.

House smiled.

"Wilson knows where it is" he said "You have no excuse not to come there, Cuddy" he said throwing her a mock glare and slightly biting her lower lip "5 p.m. Punctual."

 **...**

* * *

 _A few months earlier._

 _..._

House had decided to leave to Cuddy the entire organization of the wedding. Ceremonies and receptions weren't for him. He wasn't going to give her any limitations, constraints or restrictions... he wanted her as his wife... he didn't care _how and where_...

And Cuddy knew it. She knew very well how much he hated ceremonies and receptions.

According to her role at the hospital she would have to organize a big wedding like that of Dr. Wells a year earlier. And _according to her mother_ she would have to organize a big Jewish wedding.

When she was a child she had always thought that _that_ was her ideal of wedding... a big ceremony... a big reception... now she really didn't care anymore.

House hated receptions, with hundreds of people and forced smiles... she even found hard to get him into hospital fundraising parties... and moreover he was an atheist. The more she thought about it, the more she really wanted to get away with him somewhere and come back already married.

"Of course they're Jewish" she said into the phone receiver referring to Grace and Rachel trying to keep calm "... but they celebrated Hanukkah and then even Christmas with grandma Blythe. If there's one thing I can say about us, it's that we are not an _ordinary_ family, Mom! "

She met House's eyes as she listened to her mother talk on the other end of the receiver.

"I said _no_ , Mom!" She said. Her tone much drier. "Listen... I don't care what you think. It's my wedding, not yours." She added, running a hand over her forehead. "You're free to come or not, Mom! I'm not going to drag my would-be husband in a farce just to please you"

She stood in silence listening to her mother again.

"Ok" She said "Okay, see you tomorrow, Mom... goodnight..."

She hung up and looked at House, putting a hand on her forehead. He sat down beside her on the couch looking into her eyes and seeing her eyes to mist.

"Sorry..." she said, smiling slightly "... please, buy two plane tickets and let's get married in Vegas... I can't already take it anymore" she added, feeling tears rolling down her cheeks "I-I want...to be your wife... I-I don't care about anything else..."

"Hey..." he said, caressing her face "You're tired... you haven't slept a whole night in almost two months... and, again, ... your mother is an idiot..." he added "Come here" he said putting an arm around her shoulders and drawing her to himself.

They were silent while he caressed her arm and she kept her head on his chest.

"What would you like?" He asked in a serious tone "If you weren't the Dean of Medicine... your mother's daughter..." he paused letting out a laugh "... a crazy diagnostician's fiancée..."

She laughed. Laugh and tears mixed together.

"I don't know... a simple ceremony... with only the ones we love..." she answered without raising her head.

House was silent, still stroking her hair.

"I know a place..." he said, breaking the silence "... I can call tomorrow morning if you want" he added "... and... Wilson can manage the caterer... he's an expert... he already did it three times" he let out a laugh.

Cuddy raised her head to look at him.

"Are you kidding?" She asked

"No" he said giving her a quick kiss on the lips "So your mother will blame me... and not you!" he added "I can manage _the harpy_!"

Cuddy laughed.

"I can manage her too... it's just that... she always knows how to make me angry!"

"Of course you can manage her... but you're tired... still full of hormones... and the last thing you need now is to think about how to please her!"

Cuddy smiled and kissed him, pausing to stroke his lips with hers.

"Where?" She asked, looking into his eyes.

He didn't answer and just kissed her on the lips again.

"I know it can be difficult, but..." he let out a laugh "... Trust me! You'll like it."

She looked at him again, biting her lip imperceptibly. She was a control freak and let it to him was... a risk... but he was right... she was tired... she haven't been sleeping for almost two months... and basically what she really wanted was _him_ to be happy and comfortable that day... so any place would be fine...

"As long as there are no naked women" she said, laughing and kissing him on the lips.

House laughed.

"The only woman I want to see naked after that reception... it's you!" He answered, this time looking for her tongue.

 **...**

* * *

 _May 17th, 2012_

...

Cuddy looked at the clock. Almost 4.30 p.m. The house was silent. House had insisted on keeping the children with himself, along with Marina, of course. At first, just for fun, he hadn't wanted to tell her _where_ he was planning of organizing their wedding ceremony... now he had insisted on the fact that she have to relax and just enjoy the surprise. She felt nervous... and excited. She heard a knock on the bedroom door and took a deep breath before saying _'Come in'._

"May I?" Wilson asked, slowly opening the door.

"Sure" She said, smiling slightly and meeting Wilson's look.

She was dressed in a beautiful mermaid cut wedding dress, strapless and with a sweetheart neckline. Not white, but powder rose ... with white lace floral applications. On her back a row of small buttons ended in a bow and a French lace veil, in a small train. The neckline embellished with pearls and crystals. Her hair loose on her shoulders in soft waves. A string of pearls around her neck. A triple strand of pearls on her wrist.

"Wow, Lisa! You... you're... gorgeous" he said "House is going to have his mind blown" he added.

She smiled.

"Ready?" he asked, reaching for her hand.

 **...**

* * *

They reached the location of the ceremony in less than half an hour. An old-fashioned but completely updated house set on acres of a nature preserve with a lake in the backyard.

Cuddy immediately recognized that place, and smiled. She and House had already been in that nature preserve with Rachel, a little less than a year earlier. They had brought her there to see the animals of the garden. She and House had been sitting a long time on the lake shore just watching the water and the sky mirrored on it, coloring it with sunset lights. She had loved that place.

It was a warm afternoon in mid-May, the day of their second anniversary and the garden was literally wonderful. Springy tender bright light green leaves moved slightly in the warm breeze, shining in the sunlight.

"It's... beautiful ..." she whispered.

Wilson smiled.

"He surprised me too" he said "He's waiting for you near the lake... He told me you know where it is..."

Cuddy smiled and nodded her head.

"I'll go and check that he can't run away" he said, laughing "See you there?"

"Sure" She replied while Wilson handed her a bouquet of flowers and then walked away down a tree-lined path.

She remembered very well that path through the trees that led to the small lake, and took a deep breath looking at the bouquet in her hands. Powder pink roses... and a little pearl in each rose. A note was tucked among the roses. She bit her lip as she read it trying to hold back her tears, before a smile appeared on her lips.

She felt her heart begin to beat faster as she walked along the path, and approached the little lake. Chairs covered in white cloth were set near the shore. House was standing on the dock next to the State Officer and Wilson, in the same spot where they had been sitting hand in hand that afternoon. A hand in his tuxedo pants pocket.

She briefly met his eyes and had to restrain emotion, sending back tears.

Rachel was next to him too. She wore a dress of powder pink taffeta with a white silk band around her waist, and a beads headband in her hair. She saw him whisper her a few words before her little girl's eyes look at her and she ran towards her. Half of the flower petals of her little basket spilled along the way and Cuddy couldn't help but laugh as she bent to hug her. She kissed her on the cheek before taking her hand and walking toward the lake letting her spread the remaining petals of her basket as a huge smile lit up her little face.

She saw Julia standing up and smiling at House, approaching to the little pier, before turning still smiling at her sister. Her dress was similar to Rachel's one. A taffeta knee-length gown, but ivory-colored with a powder pink silk band around the waist. Julia had always criticized House's unconventionality... and probably the fact that she had talked of him for years calling him _a jerk, crazy, misanthropic, egocentric_ _guy_ hadn't helped ... but she had been happy to be her bridesmaid and, for one day, she had put aside even her arguments with House.

Cuddy paused while the wedding march began to play, and smiled at House. She saw him running his tongue on his lips, smiling slightly, as he didn't take his eyes off her. In that moment they could have been alone... or have thousands eyes focused on them... but none of them would have noticed...

She stopped a few feet from him and bent over to kiss Rachel, making her sit down beside Blythe and her mother. She caught the look of both of them and smiled, pausing to stroke Grace's cheek as she was asleep in her grandmother's arms, wrapped in a white blanket.

She look up at him and smiled, taking his hand as he reached out for hers. He had held her hand so many times, but at that moment she felt as if that holding-hands was _a promise_.

"You didn't get lost..." he said as soon as she was close to him.

"I didn't" She said biting her lip and smiling "It's... it's really beautiful here..." she said looking at the lake in front of her, illuminated by the sun and mirroring the few white clouds in the sky.

" _You_ 're beautiful" he said looking into her eyes.

The sky blue of his eyes got lost in the gray-blue of hers... and for a moment they both felt as if they were alone on that little pier.

The voice of the State Officer brought them back to reality, as the ceremony began... and it was a simple ceremony as both had desired.

Chase and Taub had attended _another_ wedding just over a year before... now, the way the groom was looking at his bride was definitely different. It was strange to see that side of their boss... and of their boss' boss... And it was strange to think about how the events that had brought them now on this shore had had a turning point just a year before during _that_ wedding.

House and Cuddy had decided they didn't want the traditional exchange of vows during the ceremony... they love their friends but those vows were a piece of their souls and they were _just for the both of them_.

But... they both had had the same idea. House had left her a note, tucked between the roses of her bouquet. Cuddy had tucked it into the pocket of his tuxedo pants. And both had smiled and bit their lip as soon as they had read those few lines, written in the respective handwriting. Their harmony sometimes surprised themselves too.

 _I told you a thousand times that people do not change, Lisa. Neither I. But ... everybody lies, right? ... Stop smiling like that! It's that smile that got me! You love me... and I am a better man because of you. I want that forever exists. So... stop crying and come here... I'm waiting for you._ _H._

 _It would be easy to say that I love you because I love the nice part of you, House... I love you because I can't hate the worst part of you. I can't see the future... but I can see the past. And everything, good or bad, had always brought me back to you... simply because I can't help it... and I cannot imagine my life without you. So... for me it's a certainty... that forever exists... I love you. Yours. Always been. Always will. Lisa_

They both looked at Rachel, as she stood up and handed the wedding rings to House. Two classic wedding bands in yellow gold. He stroked her hair and she gave him a big smile that lit her eyes.

"Do you, Lisa Cuddy, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Cuddy looked into House's eyes and smiled.

"I do" she replied, still looking into his eyes as she slipped the ring on his finger. He could feel her hand trembling slightly.

He continued to look at her as she slipped the wedding ring on his finger.

"Don't pass out _this time_..." he whispered, so imperceptibly that only she could hear him.

She looked up and met his eyes, letting out a small laugh.

"And you... say that _'I do'_ ... _this time_ " she replied still in a whisper while her eyes smiled along with her lips and the Official State House asked House the _big question_.

"Do you, Gregory House, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

He licked his lips and smiled, still looking into her eyes.

"Sure I do" he answered, not looking away and seeing her smiling again.

He slipped the ring on her finger, next to her engagement ring, and intertwined his fingers with hers like that night of two years ago, after the accident in Trenton.

"With the power conferred upon me by the state of New Jersey... I now pronounce you... husband and wife" he said, smiling at them both, and pausing before adding "Dr. House... you may kiss the bride"

House looked at her getting lost in her eyes again, and wrapped her waist with one arm, still holding her hand in his other one, as she put an arm around his neck. He stroked her lips.

"You're only mine..." he whispered on her lips before cancelling the short distance between them in a tender kiss.

 **...**

* * *

The guests were seated at their tables under the patio in front of the garden as the children played on the grass. Candles floated in glass bowls on the tables, warming the atmosphere with their dim light.

The sun was setting and the sky was mirrored on the little lake, illuminating it with dark green, yellow and orange glares.

House moved closer to her and looked into her eyes before leaning down to kiss her. She savored that long kiss before looking up at his eyes again. She loved the way in which he was looking at her ... she could literally get lost in that look.

Wilson looked at them as they laughed, holding hands near the lake shore. He felt Teddy's arm around his waist and turned to her, smiling.

"They're happy" She said, looking towards the lake.

"Yes" He said, smiling and holding her closer to himself "They are."

 **...**

* * *

 **Author's note** : The wedding dress I chose for Cuddy is _Athena by Maggie Sottero_ , 2013 collection.

I'm the worst photoshopper in the world but I had this thought in my mind so I couldn't help it. On Twitter ( _et_ **d** _underscore_ **antares78** ) my own version of the newlywed! First time I use Photoshop so...please... be kind! ;)


	6. Two hearts - part 2

_**So... here their first night as husband and wife... you're warning! ;) Enjoy!**_

 **...**

* * *

 **Chapter 6 - Two hearts - Part 2**

 **...**

* * *

He had rented that house on the lake and the gardens all around for the entire weekend. When they chose the date they had had no doubts. _May 17th_. It had a special meaning for them... _doubly_ special... so they had opted for that date... even though it was on Thursday. It was an unusual day for a wedding but, now, they would have been the entire weekend for themselves. And since they didn't want to leave for a honeymoon trip leaving their children at home, those four days would have been their honeymoon.

Cuddy looked around while House locked the front door. That house was wonderful. The large fireplace in the center of the room, sofas and armchairs covered in fabric, rugs on the floor and paintings on the walls ... it was country, elegant and warm at the same time...

"Remind me to increase your salary" she said meeting his gaze "I can't imagine how much _you_ paid for all of this" she laughed.

House laughed and wrapped her waist with his hands.

"How much _we_ paid..., _Mrs. House_ " He pointed, kissing her on the lips "And I reserved the room service for the entire weekend" he said, before slightly shaking his head "... well... _Wilson_ reserved the room service for us for the whole weekend " he pointed out laughing.

He heard her laugh on his lips and he couldn't resist the temptation to look for those lips, slipping his tongue into her mouth. She moved closer to him as she kissed him back.

He looked into her eyes and took her hand leading her to the bedroom.

"It's so quiet here..." she said, looking around as he opened the bedroom door.

House turned to her with a mischievous look.

"I assure you... it won't be _quiet_ for much longer, Cuddy..." he said looking at her as she smiled and bit her lip.

House wrapped her waist with his arms again, looking again for her lips before entering the room.

Cuddy looked around and smiled.

The light of many small flames lit up the room and their flickering glow was reflected on the walls in warm shades of yellow and orange. White roses filled a vase on the table by the window and a red rose rested on the pillow by the side of the bed where she usually slept. Through the half-open curtains she could see, beyond the trees, a little piece of lake illuminated by the moonlight.

She took in her hands the red rose that was on her pillow and stroked its petals gently, biting her lip, before looking up at House.

"Who do I have to thank for this?" She asked smiling "You or... _Wilson_?" She added, looking mischievously at him.

House let out a laugh.

"Wilson..." he said.

Cuddy laughed and nodded, still looking at the red rose in her hands and inhaling its scent before returning to look at House straight in the eyes.

"So..." she said, approaching him and allowing him to put his hands on her hips before finishing her sentence, looking slyly into his eyes "... maybe I should spend my wedding night... with Wilson ..." she whispered, one inch from his lips.

House smiled and touched her lips gently biting her lower lip.

"Yes... you should..." he whispered, nodding slightly but pulling her closer to him and holding her in his arms "... but... you should give up ... _this_ ..." he whispered, still sucking her lip and pressing his groin against her, making her aware of how much turn on he already was.

"Mmmhhh" it was her answer to that feeling, as she closed her eyes for a moment, before going back to look at him.

House moved his hands on her butt, holding her close. At least four layers of fabric separated their bodies, but they weren't enough to weaken their feelings to that contact. His erection pressing against the fabric of her wedding dress was enough to trigger a chain reaction in her body... a shiver down her spine... the acceleration of the heartbeat... a clench in her lady parts...

House smiled, still looking into her eyes. Her extremely dilated pupils... her already flushed cheeks... He didn't need to slip a hand in her panties to know how much wet she already was. But just the thought of that warmth between her legs sent him a shudder through his lower belly. Even his body couldn't stop the chain reaction. They hadn't even touched yet, but the more he watched her, the more the tension in his groin increased... he could feel it and he knew that she could feel it too...

"I think ... I'll thank Wilson for roses and candles..." she said, looking mischievously at him and brushing his lips with her tongue "... _after_ having _thanked_ my husband..." she added, pausing on the word _'thanked'_ and rubbing lightly her private parts on his erection.

House sucked her lip again.

"I assure you that the only man you'll want to thank ... several times ... after tonight ... it will be _your husband_ " he said on her lips making her smile.

He moved his mouth on her ear lobe teasing it with his tongue.

"However... candles are... an idea of mine..." he whispered on her skin, kissing her behind the ear.

Cuddy tilted her head to one side giving him greater access to her neck as she slid her hand on his neck, pausing to stroke the short hair on his nape.

"God..." she whispered as those kisses sent other chills down her spine "I... I love candles..."

"I know..." he whispered in her ear, moving a hand on her face as he went down to kiss her neck "... I know _my wife_..."

 _Wife._

He felt her shiver as she put her arms around his neck and stood, lifting his head and looking into her eyes.

"Are you cold?" He asked brushing her lips and moving his hands to stroke her back and her bare shoulders.

"No..." she said, smiling and still biting her lip "It's just that... well... it's so _strange_..." she whispered.

House looked at her with a quizzical look.

"What?" he asked not looking away and still stroking her back.

She smiled again and let out a little laugh.

"God... I feel like you're touching me for the first time" she said clutching closer to him while he could feel shivers going down her spine again at the bare touch of his fingers on her skin.

House smiled. He could feel her goose bumps.

"It's a turn on me calling you _'wife'_?" He asked one inch from her lips.

Cuddy smiled and nodded.

"You can't imagine how much..." she said, brushing his lips "And..." she added, smiling "... it turns me on... the thought of making love with _my husband_ "

House didn't answer, but touched her tongue and felt her open her mouth slightly to give him greater access to her mouth, while his hands slowly began to unbutton the row of buttons on her back.

"This dress..." he whispered on her mouth "... makes you a great ass..." he said, letting out a laugh and biting her lip.

"... You _have_ a great ass" he corrected himself, resting both hands on her butt and pushing her more against his groin.

She laughed as House began to unbutton her dress with one hand, continuing to massage her ass with the other one.

"Take it off me..." she whispered on his lips as she began to unbutton his shirt.

House let her taking off his shirt and slid to the ground her wedding dress before turning her around savoring the sensation of her bare back against his chest. He kissed again the side of her neck while his other hand slipped into her bra looking for her breasts. She was wearing only a strapless bra and ivory silk panties, her high-heeled pumps and a pearl necklace. He slid his other hand down her body lingering on the feeling of the silk beneath his fingers. His hand stopped between her legs. He could feel her in the palm of his hand through the light fabric of her panties. So warm and wet... Instinctively he pushed his erection against her buttocks and heard her moan quietly... She could clearly feel him despite he was still wearing his tuxedo pants.

"Oh God..." she moaned, slowly rubbing her butt along his length "... you're so..."

"... hard" he said in her ear, finishing the sentence for her, knowing how much the sound of that word turned her on at that moment...

"...God, yes ..." she answered, still rubbing her butt slowly on him and simultaneously rubbing her groin against House's hand, which was between her legs.

Instinct. Sex. Two bodies locked together in passion. House knew what he wanted. He knew what his instinct wanted. To slip his fingers into the moist heat between her legs. To feel her taste of on his own tongue. To feel his erection throbbing into her. Thrusts. Moans. Sweat. Deeper thrusts. To feel the clenches of her orgasm massaging him. To feel the clenches of her core inexorably squeezing every drop of him.

Yes, he knew what he wanted. But he wanted that... and even more... He wanted _her_...

He wanted her... her sighs as he stroked her... her moans as he licked her... her cries of pleasure as she abandoned herself to him...

"God Lisa..." he whispered to the feeling of her damp panties, still sucking her neck.

She turned her toward him to look into her eyes and looked passionately for her tongue, holding her face with both hands while her hands unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his pants. The feel of her hand on his erection made him hold his breath for a moment, replaced by a hoarse moan.

Her tongue moved in his mouth at the same pace of her hand along his length. Again and again and again.

House's hand suddenly stopped Cuddy's hand.

"God Lisa..." he gasped holding her hand in his "... I gonna come in your hand if you keep going like that" he said in her mouth, leaning his forehead to hers and trying to regain control over his body.

Cuddy smiled slyly, running her tongue on her own lips and sitting down on the bed, pulling him toward herself in a decisive gesture.

"Or in my mouth" she said, leaving him no time to reply as the warmth of her mouth enveloped him.

Her tongue caressed him. Her mouth moved along his length, licking and sucking every inch of him. House felt the tension in his groin increasing dangerously. _God, Lisa..._ he thought ... the desire to let go almost uncontrollably at the thought of his cum into her mouth... at the thought that she wanted his cum in her mouth...

He fisted her hair in his hand and lifted her head, forcing her to look at him.

"God, you know I would..." he said, pushing her on her back on the bed and kissing passionately that same mouth that had drove him crazy just a few seconds earlier.

He slowly slipped off her bra, shoes and panties before lying down on her, looking for her mouth again.

"... Not as much as I want _this ._.." he added on her mouth.

He intertwined his fingers with hers and began to kiss her neck, then moving down on her sternum and on her breast, lingering on her nipples before going down on her belly. His breath still sent her chills down her spine as his mouth kissed every inch of her body teasing her with his tongue and gently sucking on her skin.

He went down even lower, kissing her inner thigh and making her moan in anticipation.

Cuddy could feel her inner part throbbing with pleasure and felt the irresistible desire to be touched by his hands... by his mouth... to have him deep inside her...

 _"Oh God..."_ she moaned as he continued to torture her, kissing and touching her everywhere, but not where she longed to be touched.

He turned her face down and met her eyes as he did so.

"You want me dead..." she groaned as he leaned over her and kissed her back, letting his erection press between her buttocks, this time without any hindrance... skin to skin.

"No..." he said, smiling, moving on her but without penetrating her "... I want to drive you crazy..."

He could feel her to move slightly under him against the sheets as he kissed and caressed her.

He heard her restrain her moans, hiding her face against the sheets, while she still felt his erection rubbing against her buttocks.

"I want to hear you screaming..." he whispered as she couldn't control the movements of her body beneath him "... tonight... I want _my wife_ 's screams of pleasure to be the only sound within these walls... " he added sucking her earlobe, his voice deeper with arousal.

He heard her hold her breath momentarily... already so close... And that word, _wife_ , continued to emphasize her feelings...

House rubbed her back and made her turn on her back, stroking her body with his eyes.

"God, Greg... please..." she whispered, looking for his eyes, her breath labored for the pleasure.

The look on her face sent him a shiver down his spine and in his lower abdomen. He knew that look. The way she closed her eyes and opened her mouth slightly... so close to her orgasm that it would have been enough to just touch her lightly to hear her scream.

"I have not even touched you yet..." he said, letting out a smile as he took her face with one hand and kissed her on the lips nibbling her lip.

"God... I'm dying for you to do it..." she said, closing her eyes as his hand caressed her breasts and moved down between her legs. _Slowly_.

He touched the down on her pubis with his fingertips as if he was touching her for the first time. His eyes fixed on his own fingers as they disappeared between her legs, slowly massaging her.

 _Agony._

That was the only word that came to her mind. But the sweetest agony that she could have.

He saw her roll her eyes as he pushed a finger inside her. He loved the way in which she tilted her head back and arched her back when pleasure overwhelmed her, and he could not resist the temptation to put another finger inside her.

"Oh ... my ... oh ... Greg ... _no_ ..." he heard her moan as he moved his fingers in and out of her, kissing her neck and sucking hard behind her ear. Not that she didn't like it... _God, she liked it_... but ... she could feel his erection against her thigh and... she wanted more... she wanted to feel him deep inside herself.

"What... _no_ , Lisa?" he asked archly, continuing to torture her neck and to fondle her with his hand "It's a I-don't-want-you-get-me-off-with-your-fingers _no_ , or a I-don't-want-you-to leave-a-hickey-on-my-neck _no_...?"

He gave her no time to answer while he didn't slow down the pace of his hand and kissed again the side of her neck, sucking on the skin behind her ear.

"Oh ... G..." she moaned as he sucked her harder, ignoring her _no_ , and that first orgasm made her legs tremble as she called out his name.

House smiled and looked again for her mouth and tongue.

"God... I want you inside me..." she moaned in his mouth while she could still feel her core throbbing.

He looked into her eyes with a very mischievous look.

"How many you can have at one time, Lisa?" he asked not giving her time to answer as she bent over her hiding his head between her legs. He could hear her repeat the words _oh God_ alternating with _his name_ while he aroused her with his tongue and her legs kept shaking. The knuckles of her hands were white as she fisted the sheets and arched her back. The pleasure so strong that was almost painful. And she felt so lost in that pleasure she thought she could go crazy.

He paused for a moment, lifting his head to look at her and meeting her gaze.

"Oh God... Greg" she moaned feeling so close to that second release she think she could burn.

He bent over her again and she couldn't stand anymore to the feeling of his tongue over her while another orgasm overwhelmed her.

House continued to suck her as she came, but he couldn't stand anymore and lifted his head to look at her before penetrating her while he could still feel her muscle clenching around him. Cuddy couldn't suppress a deep moan of pleasure as he felt him filling her. That feeling exalted and prolonged that already strong orgasm.

He stayed inside her savoring that feeling before looking into her eyes. She looked for his mouth, stroking his back and digging her nails into his skin as he moved inside her.

His thrusts met her pace as he entered her deeply, still kissing her mouth.

She loved his relentless kisses... she loved his eyes always looking for hers... she loved him thinking about her, only her, during every moment of their lovemaking... during every thrust... during every moan...

His look and kisses amplified her sensations and pleasure... she was completely _his_ during their lovemaking... it had never happened to her with any other man... and her body always and _inexorably_ responded to his caresses...

"Oh God... yes..." she moaned as he found that point into her "Oh God... yes... please..." she moaned as words choked in her throat "God, my love... don't stop... please...don..."

And he look again into her eyes, looking at the same time for her tongue and recognizing _that look_ on her face for the third time in a row that night. He couldn't stand anymore and he let go to a strong orgasm, pouring himself into her as he kissed her mouth passionately again before collapsing on her body.

They lay in each other's arms, panting and sweaty, lost in the afterglow.

"You can't even imagine how much I love to see you coming..." he whispered, kissing her again on her mouth.

She laughed.

"Oh G-God..." she repeated as she can't stop her legs from shaking and her breathing was still labored "... I... I _guessed it._.." she said, laughing, stroking his nape and looking again for his lips.

"And you're incredibly beautiful after an orgasm, Cuddy" he said smiling, touching her lips lightly.

She didn't say anything, and just smiled.

"Now... you're only mine..." he added looking into her eyes.

"I... I've always been..." she answered, finding his mouth in another long kiss.

 **...**

* * *

House watched her as she slept embraced to him, and smiled. He still wonder how much he loved just to look at her as she slept... and sleeping next to her.

He thought back at his relationship with Stacy... he had thought to love her... but he had never felt for her what he felt now, for Lisa. During his years with Stacy he had loved to come home finding someone waiting for him, not being alone, not sleeping alone... she gave him a sort of stability and she filled the void of his life. After all, he had always been a solitary guy, even before his leg infarction. His leg had just intensified that side of his nature, making him even more withdrawn... He had thought to love her... now he knew he was wrong... he had loved the feeling of having someone beside him... but what he felt for her was affection, respect... not love... It was a very different feeling from the one he felt for Cuddy... But he had known it just after that first morning, two years ago... in the right moment in which he had told her that _"So...now what?"_

He had refused that feeling for years... what was between them made him feel vulnerable and he had cleverly learned to hide it behind sarcasm. He had tried to do _that step_ with her after Joy... but he had been afraid... and he had withdrawn... And he had continued to _hide_ even in their first year together... Losing her had changed his life... Knowing about Grace had changed his life...

He finally felt _complete..._ and he smiled at the thought that, if they were at home, that morning calm would have been early broken by a four-years-old in her _Hello Kitty_ or _Dora the Explorer_ pajamas jumping on the bed, or curling up between them. He smiled even more to the thought that Grace was now just six months old, but in a few months she would have joined her sister in that Sunday morning routine.

He watched her again, stroking her arm.

They hadn't raised the subject anymore... and she was on the pill since Grace's birth... but he wanted to have another baby...

He knew he was twenty years late... he knew she was afraid... afraid to deceive herself and not be able to conceive another baby... afraid of not being able to have another healthy baby... afraid of not be able to manage another baby conciliating her role as a mother with her job... and yet... he wasn't going to force her to go into something she didn't want... but he would have wanted that she could say even that _'yes'_...

The door bell rang awakening him from that thought, and he moved slowly trying not to wake her up and putting on a robe before opening the door.

He went back into their bedroom and met her eyes.

"Good morning, _Sunshine_ " he said, placing the breakfast tray on the bed and sitting down near her, touching her lips lightly with his.

She smiled.

"Good morning" she answered.

"I think you really need this after tonight, _Mrs. House_ " he said pointing to the breakfast and kissing her again.

"Yeah" she laughed "You too..." she said with a mischievous look.

"I don't like that look..." he laughed, looking into her eyes.

"Oh...you'll rather like it..." she replied smiling and running her tongue on her lips.

"You know that if you keep looking me like that I'll make you skip breakfast, don't you?" he said on her lips in a tone that sent her a shiver down her spine.

"Let's have breakfast, my love" she laughed "We have time..."

 **...**

* * *

"I like this necklace" he said with a mischievous look, touching the pearl necklace she was still wearing since the previous day.

She laughed.

"You like it because... it's the only thing I'm wearing..." she laughed.

"Yeah" he said looking at her and letting out a laugh as she placed her empty glass on the bedside table.

"You should wear like this for your Board meeting of next week. You'll definitely get their approval for your project, Cuddy!" He laughed drinking the last sip of coffee from his cup.

She laughed.

"Well... there are five women in the Board, House!"

He shook his head.

"I have some doubts on at least a couple of them, Cuddy" he laughed again.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You, Gregory House, had some doubts even about me" she said seriously but failing to suppress a smile.

"You know I was joking, Cuddy," he said drawing her to himself "... and... _Dr. Cuddy_..." he whispered in her ear "... you even know that I jacked myself off for years thinking about _these_..." he added, slipping a hand under the sheet that were wrapped around her body and stroking her breasts.

She smiled as he kissed her neck, still stroking her breast, and she undid the belt of his robe searching his skin and wrapping his erection with her hand.

" _Like this?_ " She mischievously asked, biting innocently her lip and looking at him straight in the eyes.

"God..." he moaned "... your hand is much better..."

She kept to massage him with her hand before leaning over to take him into her mouth, sucking him and arousing him with her hand at the same time.

He clutched her hair in his hands favoring the movements of her head. He took her arm, feeling close to his climax and she looked up meeting his eyes. She smiled, running her tongue over her lips as he pulled her to him with more energy making her sit down on his lap and holding her in his arms as he penetrated her. He let her set the pace as she rode him before letting go to his orgasm, together with hers.

"God..." he whispered, kissing her on the mouth, still holding her in his arms.

"Do you still have doubts, _Dr. House_?" She asked ironically, smiling and kissing him again.

"You have much more _estrogens_ than all those five put together" he replied letting out a laugh.

They held each other under the sheets feeling the warmth of their bodies and their caresses.

"Let's go for a walk?" Cuddy asked, stroking his arm "It's a wonderful sunny day..."

"Sure" he replied.

He looked at her as she put on a T-shirt and reached out to take a few tablets of Ibuprofen from the bottle on the nightstand.

Cuddy looked at him and he caught her eye.

"If your leg hurts, we can postpone it, Greg" she said "... after last night and this morning... I think I have _some guilt_ for _that_ pain..." she added, biting her lip.

"A walk in the park won't kill me, Cuddy" he said

She nodded.

"Fine..." she said, taking her jeans from the suitcase next to the bed.

House swallowed a couple of tablets and looked at her again.

"You forgot your pill" he said.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Your pill... you haven't taken it this morning... and, not even last night"

She lowered her head and smiled, shaking her head slightly.

"Are you checking up on me?" she asked.

"No" he replied "It's just a statement of facts"

She approached him, placing her jeans on the bed.

"I'm not on the pill" she said biting her lip "since a couple of weeks..."

"Are you serious?" He asked, looking into her eyes with a look she couldn't decipher.

She bit her lip.

"Let's have another baby" She said with the hint of a smile, repeating the same words that he had told her a few months earlier.

"God Lisa..." he said as he sought her mouth passionately and pushed her on the bed again.

She laughed.

"I take this as a _yes_ " she said as she tilted her head back and he kissed her neck.

 **...**

* * *

"I need to have _your Ibuprofen_ checked..." she said, smiling as she rested her head on his chest and he stroked her arm.

"They're white tablets, not blue ones, _Sherloch_ " he laughed holding her tighter "You're much better than _Viagra_ , trust me" he said, kissing her hair.

He continued to stroke her arm.

"You know that I don't know for how many years I can guarantee you this pace, Cuddy, don't you?" he whispered, kissing her hair again.

She laughed, raising her head to look at him and kissing him on the lips again.

"It means that when we are _very old_ I'll settle for your lips" she whispered on his mouth stroking his tongue with hers and looking into his eyes emphasizing the word _very_.

"Do you really want it?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.

"To have another baby?" she asked, looking up at him as he nodded "Of course I really want it, Greg..." She replied still looking into his eyes "... it's just that... I don't know if I can..." She hesitated "... with Grace... we have been lucky... "

"I know..." He said still caressing her and kissing her lightly on the lips "... don't think about that now..." he smiled "I owe you that walk yet..."

She smiled.

"I love you" she whispered on his lips.


	7. Two hearts - Part 3

**CHAPTER 7 - Two hearts - Part 3**

 **...**

* * *

"I think it's better go inside before it rains" House said looking at the dark sky and shivering a little as the wind got up, whistling between the leaves "A cloudburst is coming" he added, stroking her arm.

They lay in the garden under a large willow. He was reading a book with his back resting against the trunk, she had her head on his legs and looked at the sky mirrored on the lake in front of them. The water mirrored the color of the sky, and it was now much darker than the one which had be the frame of their wedding, two days earlier. Shades of dark green and gray.

"Definitely" she said, raising her head and looking at the first faint raindrops forming circles on the water.

They went back into the house and Cuddy stroked her own arms with her hands, trying to warm herself.

"Are you cold?" He asked, embracing her and bending down to kiss her on the lips.

"Just a little..." she replied moving closer to him and letting his hands warming her back.

"Thank Goodness we didn't get married on Saturday" Cuddy added turning to look at the rain beating on the window.

"Yeah" he replied, smiling "I told you that _normality is overrated_ " he laughed holding her tighter, touching lightly her lips and then her tongue.

They had dinner sitting on a blanket spread on the floor in front of the fireplace.

"I never thought of sitting in front of the fire in mid-May... sipping Italian wine" she said looking up at House and approaching the stem glass to her lips. She savored the warmth of the red wine along her throat, looking at him.

"That _Amarone_ is at least 15 % of alcohol" he said, smiling pointing to her glass "Don't overdo... I don't know if I can carry you to bed in my arms" he laughed.

She smiled and run her tongue on her lips, finishing her wine in a long sip and looking into his eyes.

"Why do you want to go to bed?" she said with a sly look "... here is more romantic..." she added, approaching him and bending down to kiss him "And I ... I love making love in front of the fire " she whispered on his lips seeking his tongue.

House looked at her as she moved away from his lips and stood looking at him with a mischievous look.

She slowly peeled her shirt off and unbuttoned her jeans, still looking into his eyes. She dropped her jeans on the floor and let him to look at her before leaning back on him.

"Admit it, Cuddy" he said on her lips making her smile "You know how incredibly beautiful you are" he added, biting her lower lip gently as she slipped a hand under the hem of his shirt looking for his skin, and began to unbutton his jeans.

"I know how incredibly _powerful_ is the _effect_ I have on you..." she smiled stroking his erection through the fabric of his jeans.

He didn't move, looking into her eyes as she peeled off his pants, and put his hands on her hips as she sat on his lap putting her arms around his neck.

"I love you" she whispered on his lips before deepening the kiss looking for his tongue as he put his hands in her hair.

She could feel her most intimate part clenching in anticipation as they kissed, and he too. They both could even feel the rich taste of red wine in their mouths. She continued to kiss him, savoring the feel of his tongue caressing hers. She wasn't drunk ... she didn't like to lose control and she never drank so much to lose control completely, but wine made her feel more relaxed and _uninhibited_ and she just wanted to let go to the sensations _his body_ was giving her.

A moan escaped her lips as House's hands moved down along her back and his fingers slowly traced the line of her spine before focusing on her buttocks. He stroked her butt lightly at first, and then harder, clutching her buttocks in his hands and pressing his erection against her.

"Oh God..." she whispered, biting her lip to that feeling. The desire to feel him inside herself was almost uncontrollable. "Please, take them off..." she moaned on his lips as he slipped his hands into her panties.

He looked into her eyes and pushed her on her back on the floor, falling on top of her and looking at her as he undressed her completely.

Cuddy stretched her arms above her head, arching her back and spreading her legs apart slightly, in a tacit invitation, as he continued to look into her eyes.

"God... I love when you do that" he said, stroking one of her legs and moving his fingers along her thigh, lingering to caress the heat between her legs as he bent to kiss her again.

He kissed her lips, moving then down on her neck and on her breast, still rubbing his erection between her legs but not penetrating her.

"Oh God... please..." she moaned, rocking under him as he licked and sucked her nipple, sending shivers down her spine and in her lower belly.

He smiled as he went down to kiss her belly. He knew she wanted to be penetrated... but he wanted to dwell on that _game_... and smiled again as he bent over her. He felt her arching her back even more as his mouth touched her most intimate part and sucked harder on it... he could feel her legs starting to shake as he aroused her with his tongue, leaving her virtually breathless.

He fondled her with his hand , but without pushing his fingers inside her as he continued to excite her with his mouth, and he heard a groan of disapproval as he did that.

"O-Oh God ... _I hate you_..." she moaned as her legs began to shake harder, but he suddenly lifted his head to kiss her on the mouth smiling mischievously on her lips.

"God, Greg... you're torturing me..." she moaned again, breathless, closing her eyes and failing to control her heavy breathing "... God... I'm so..." she moaned again, still failing to articulate words. She felt her core throbbing intensely... so close to her climax that she felt as if about to explode...

"What do you want, Lisa?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

She loved that look in his eyes... pure passion... lust and desire...

He pushed just a bit inside her, penetrating her just with his tip and looking into her eyes, still waiting for her answer.

"God, Greg ... please" She moaned again, arching her back even more "... you're driving me crazy" she said, biting her lip and closing her eyes again.

"I want to hear that from you" he said on her lips, still kissing her mouth and teasing her entrance with the tip of his penis at the same time.

"God... I want you... completely, totally and deeply into me" she said as she suddenly put her hands on his buttocks, pushing him firmly into herself.

He couldn't suppress a deep groan at that feeling and he looked more deeply for her mouth, letting her moaning into his mouth as he now vigorously thrust inside her. An hoarse _'Oh God... Lisa'_ escaped from his lips to the feeling of being so deeply into her.

Their moans mingled with the crackling fire in the fireplace and the sound of the rain beating on the windows, while their breathing were more and more labored. He continued to look into her eyes and she looked at him as their bodies moved rhythmically with increasing passion and their tongues continued to look for each other.

He felt her fingers digging into his back and saw her fluttering her eyes and then closing them as her orgasm overwhelmed her and he couldn't help anymore, letting go and pouring himself into her.

They held each other. She stroked his neck and nape with one hand while he rested his head between her breasts.

She reached for the blanket with the other hand, and covered him, wrapping him closer as he raised his head and looked for her lips.

"God... _I hate_ _you_ when you do that" she said laughing, looking for his lips and sucking his bottom lip, looking into his eyes and still stroking his nape.

House smiled.

"... But I see you know how to get what you want..." he said again, brushing her tongue.

"Always" she answered while another _mmmhhhh_ escaped from her lips at the contact with his tongue and she got lost in another long kiss.

They held each other under the blanket, watching the fire crackling in the fireplace.

"I'm glad you changed your mind..." he said, stroking her arm and intertwining his fingers with hers, fiddling with the wedding band on her left hand.

She smiled, but bit her lip clinging closer to him.

"Yes, but... my biological clock has already started its countdown, Greg... I don't want to delude myself..." she said, still stroking his chest with her hand "... And... I don't want you deluding yourself..."

House lifted her face with his hand and looked into her eyes.

"Don't be worried about that" he said, smiling "... I know we are no longer in our twenties" he laughed "... although I assure you that you are better than many twenty-year-olds!" he laughed again.

Cuddy raised her head and glared at him.

"I hope you're not telling this by experience!" She said looking into his eyes.

House opened his mouth to speak, but she silenced him by raising her hand and glaring at him again.

"No... never mind! I don't want to know" she said, glaring at him but unable to suppress a smile.

He smiled and pulled her closer to him looking for her lips.

"It was a compliment, Cuddy!" he laughed on her lips "I assure you that you have nothing to envy to a twenty-year-old!" He said again, biting her lip.

"Yeah. Sure." she laughed, ironic, shaking her head slightly but kissing him on the lips again.

"I'm saying this _by experience_ " he said, looking into her eyes and still holding her gaze. He couldn't decipher that look in her eyes. It was a mixture of irritation, pleasure and curiosity...

" _House!_ I don't want to hear about your sexual _exploit_ with some twenty-year-olds!" she said, looking into his eyes again. This time her look was clearly annoyed.

He laughed. She kept calling him _House_ only in two cases... at work ... or in their argues.

"Ah, so I'm not _Greg_ , or _my love,_ anymore?" he said, laughing.

She held his gaze without answering and he pulled her to him seeking her mouth.

"I was talking about the twenty-year-old version of you, Cuddy" he said on her mouth "... more inexperienced... more naive... more inhibited..." he added looking for her tongue "I can tell, _by experience_ , that the forty-year-old version of you is even better"

She smiled.

"Yeah. Sure." She said still looking at him with a wry smile "I can see the straws you're grasping at" she said, smiling "... but I'm pretending to trust you, _my love_ " she said, emphasizing the words _'my love'_ as she looked for his lips.

House pulled her over himself and stroked her back, moving then down to stroke her buttocks before going up again along her back and shoulders, holding her face in both hands and kissing her again.

"So... do you want to put _my swimmers_ back to test, Cuddy?" He whispered with a smile on her lips moving her hair from her face and touching the side of her belly with the other hand. "They might surprise you ..." he said with a mischievous look.

She laughed and nodded her head.

"Modest as ever..." she said, smiling on his lips.

"You fell in love for an egocentric guy..." he laughed "... told you I would _not_ changed" he laughed again.

"Right" she laughed "... but... you were right..." she said, still looking into his eyes "... _everybody lies_..." she added, smiling.

House smiled and looked for her tongue.

He hadn't changed. Not in the strict sense of the word. Simply... he felt free to be himself with her, without ever having to defend or hide himself...

"I love you" he whispered on her lips before trapping her mouth in a long kiss.

...

* * *

Thank you so much for reading and for your reviews! I really love them...even if I think I'm really getting addicted to them! ;)


	8. Donuts

**CHAPTER 8 - Donuts**

 **...**

* * *

 _A few months later_

 _..._

* * *

Cuddy walked into House's office.

"It's not my fault if my patient's wife is a psychopath" he said, looking at her and moving a little back his chair as she approached him. She stood between his knees, leaning on his desk with her behind, and looked at him.

"You'd better worry about your own wife" she said, smiling slightly "But... it's not why I'm here..." she added.

House looked at her quizzically.

She smiled.

"Nothing" She laughed, shaking her head "I left early this morning and you were still asleep ... I just wanted to say _hello_ to my husband" she said, kissing him lightly on the lips.

He pulled her closer to him seeking her tongue.

"Greg... not here ..." she said, gently pushing him away with her hand and turning toward the door to check that none was there.

He looked at her and stroked her leg, slipping his hand slightly under the hem of her skirt.

"No!" she repeated, slapping his hand but smiling "God.. you know I would..." she added, stroking his face and looking for his lips in a tender kiss.

"You should give me a new office, boss" he laughed "Without _glass walls_ possibly..." he said, kissing her slightly on the lips again.

"Yes... I should..." she said, laughing.

 **...**

* * *

"Hey" House said as soon as he saw Cuddy walking out of her bathroom. He was sitting on the couch in her office.

"Holy shit, Greg!" she said with a gasp, looking up and meeting his gaze "You almost gave me a heart attack! ...I thought I locked the door"

"You locked it!" he laughed "I have the key"

She laughed, shaking her head, and sat down beside him.

" I didn't give it to you to frighten me to death!" She laughed again "Did you need me?"

"I always need _you_ , Cuddy" he said with a mischievous look as he stroked her leg again, going up under her skirt.

She looked at him and bit her lip. They had made a few exceptions but _no sex at work_ was still one of their rules. Well... _her_ rules.

She looked at him again, looking then toward the door.

"Did you lock it?"

"Sure" he replied with a slightly quizzical look.

Cuddy lifted her skirt and sat with her legs astride on his lap, looking for his mouth.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a mischievous smile, cupping her buttocks with his hands as she eagerly looked for his tongue.

She began to unbutton his jeans.

"What do you think?" She replied, still looking for his mouth.

He put his hands through her hair as he kissed her. He dropped his own pants and watched her as she took off her shirt in one quick move and raised her skirt even more, rolling it up around her waist.

"What do you want, Lisa?" he mischievously asked looking into her eyes, feeling his arousal growing while he slipped a hand in her panties, stroking her.

"You know what I want" she replied biting his lip.

He smiled biting her lip in turn.

"Enlighten me" he said, still looking into her eyes. Her dilated pupils and the realization of how wet she already was drove him crazy.

"Being fucked by my husband" she answered, not looking down. And he couldn't stand further.

He eagerly looked for her mouth and moved aside her panties thrusting deeply into her as she moaned into his mouth.

He moved beneath her, in and out of her, as she moved on him setting the pace of their lovemaking. And both quickly reached their edge as she hid her face in the crock of his neck and he in her hair, barely repressing his groans.

They held each other, panting, as he stroked her back and she still kept her face hidden against his neck.

"I love when you talk me like that" he said, smiling, looking for her face and kissing her on the lips.

She smiled looking for his lips in turn.

"What did you want to ask me when you came here?" she asked, stroking his stubble.

"I just needed a signature" he replied

"So... I think you got something better, don't you?" She replied mischievously, looking at him straight in the eyes, still enjoying the sensation of him still inside her.

"Definitely!" He said "But... remind me never to send here _the Ducklings_ just for a signature, boss" he laughed finding her mouth again.

 **...**

* * *

"Hi" she said looking at him as he approached her table in the cafeteria and sat down in front of her.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to her plate with a nod.

"A... _slice of pizza?_ " She answered with a puzzled tone raising both her eyebrows.

"I see what it is, Cuddy" he said looking into her eyes and running his tongue on his lips, smiling slightly "Since _when_ you have _pizza_ for lunch?"

"She shook her head lightly, smiling and biting his lower lip.

"I'm not pregnant" she replied holding his gaze.

"If you eat a slice of pizza, maybe you're _not_ pregnant..." he said lowering his voice "...if you eat a slice of pizza _after_ having had sex with your husband in your office during working time... _you're pregnant_!" he said staring at her.

She bit her lip, still holding his gaze.

"I don't have morning sickness. I don't feel dizzy. I'm fine. I was hungry because I skipped breakfast this morning. And... I wanted to have sex with you... Stop analyzing me!"

"I'll stop after you pee on a pregnancy test" he said taking the slice of pizza from her plate and giving it a large bite.

Cuddy rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.

"Fine..." she said "... I'm just a couple of days late... it doesn't mean that I'm pregnant..." she said, looking down at her plate.

House laughed.

"Pizza... sex .. and delay... you're _definitely_ pregnant!"

"Jeez, Greg! How long do you want to go on?" She said in an exasperated tone but failing to suppress a smile.

"Until you'll do that test"

 **...**

* * *

House walked into the kitchen and put his hands on her hips, from behind, as she looked out of the window, sipping an herbal tea.

She leaned her nape on his chest as he kissed her hair.

"The big one has fallen asleep after 30 seconds..." he said "... the little one tried to escape from her crib..." he laughed kissing her hair again.

"She's barely standing... but her genes will out" she laughed, turning to look at him.

"I had no doubt" he said "...even that she would be as beautiful as her mother" he added, kissing her lightly on the lips and making her smile.

"More" she said.

"Because... I gave my little contribution too" he laughed making her laugh.

Cuddy put her arms around his neck, kissing him on the lips.

"Speaking of _contributions_..." he said looking into her eyes, raising an eyebrow.

Cuddy ran a hand on her forehead, closing her eyes for a second.

"I'm only one week late, Greg..." she said, biting her lip.

"When you are 38 weeks late, you'll know I was right" he said ironically with a serious look.

She bit her lip again.

"Fine" She said "I'll do it tomorrow, ok?"

"Okay" he replied smiling slightly and brushing his lips on hers "But if tomorrow I see you eating donuts, Cuddy, you can save yourself the ten dollars of that test" he laughed kissing her again as he held her closer.

 **...**

* * *

House reached over for her in the bed and looked at the time on the alarm clock on the bedside table. 5 a.m.

He saw her walking out of the bathroom.

"Hey..." he said, "Are you okay?"

She hesitated. In the dim light of the room he couldn't see her face.

"Sure" she replied "I had to pee..." she added, slipping under the sheets and clinging to him.

He kissed her forehead as she curled up near him, and went back into sleep.

He awoke a few hours later, finding again an empty bed beside himself. But this time the clock ticked 9.30 a.m. She was already at work. Rachel was at the kindergarten. Grace was with the nanny. He was... _late._

 **...**

* * *

House stepped into Cuddy's office followed by his team. She looked at them as they walked in. She was standing next to her desk. Serious. A stack of folders in her arms. Another stack of folders was piled up on her desk...

"I know..." he forestalled her "The alarm clock didn't ring... you could have waken me up " he said, trying to defend himself.

She didn't answer and turned toward her desk, placing on it the stack of folders she held in her arms.

"Sit down, please... I need to talk to you as soon as I'm done with them" she said looking at him and pointing to the chair as he nodded.

She turned toward Taub, Thirteen and Chase, and pointed to the folders.

"These ones should have been checked, signed and _then_ stored" she said in her administrative tone looking serious at the three of them "the Archive sent them back to my office. Since you don't have a case... this will be your _pastime_ for today "she said.

They tried to reply, but her look didn't admit replies.

"Fine" Chase said taking one of the two stack of folders and wondering how someone weighing perhaps just a little over a hundred pounds could have be able to carry a weight like that all by herself. "If you need us, you'll know where to find us" he added, exiting the room.

Cuddy looked at them as they walked out the door and turned to take two paper cup of coffee from the cabinet behind her. No sugar but a drop of skinny milk for herself, black but double sugar for him.

"What's up?" House asked as she sat down in front of him.

"Nothing ..." she said, placing his cup of coffee in front of him.

"Exactly..." he said "Aren't you _angry_?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She didn't answer but shook her head, smiling.

"Just for a few folders to fix?" She laughed "I'm used to much worse, Greg" she laughed again.

"So, what is it?" he asked again.

"Simply... I haven't had time for breakfast this morning..." she said "I just wanted to have a coffee with you" she added.

House smiled and reached for his coffee, taking a sip. He looked at her as she did the same.

"Wait" she said "I took even this... or it isn't a real breakfast" she said, reaching for a paper bag and handing it to him.

She watched him as he opened it and looked inside.

 _Donuts._

She looked at him as he smiled, biting his lip. He looked up at her with a questioning look as she stood up and came closer to him, sitting down on his left leg. She took one from the paper bag and gave it a bite, looking into his eyes, before looking for his lips.

"You were right, _Daddy_ " she whispered on his lips as he smiled and looked for her tongue for a long kiss.


	9. Traditions

**CHAPTER 9 - Traditions**

 **...**

* * *

"Since when can you cook?" he asked embracing her from behind while she checked the turkey in the oven.

Cuddy smiled, slapping his arm lightly.

"The recipe is from your mother... but, cooked by me, I can't assure it's edible" she laughed.

He laughed, kissing her neck and moving his hands to stroke her belly.

"Do you know what?" He whispered in her ear.

"What?" she said, smiling and enjoying the way he still kissed her neck, sending shivers down her spine.

"That turkey needs at least three more hours in that oven" he said sucking that point behind her ear that drove her crazy "I would have an idea on how to use this time..."

She didn't answer, just savoring that feeling as a _mmmhhh_ escaped from her lips.

"And..." he added in a mischievous tone "... I'm not sure I totally forgave you yet for that joke of three years ago..."

She turned toward him looking into his eyes and putting her arms around his neck.

"Well... I've really got to make up then" she whispered on his lips pushing her tongue into his mouth and making him groan as she simultaneously slipped her hand into his pants.

She looked into his eyes and smiled at the realization of how much turned on he already was. He looked at her and dug his fingers into the rubber band of her yoga pants and then in her panties, lingering on the heat between her legs.

Their lips found each other simultaneously as their tongues caress with growing passion and he lead her toward the living room, leaving a trail of clothing along the way.

He gently pushed her on the couch and fell on top of her looking into her eyes and spreading out her legs. He let his own weight to crush her slightly, trapping her between his body and the couch cushions. He saw her closing her eyes and holding her breath and stopped, holding better his weight on his arms to avoid crushing her too much.

"Am I hurting you?" he asked searching her eyes, quite aware of the slight roundness of her belly pressed against his.

He saw her smiling as she ran her fingers along his back, stroking the line of his muscles.

"No..." she whispered, clutching instead closer to him "You know how much I love feeling you on top of me..." she said with a mischievous look slightly biting her lip.

"I never thought you liked _this_ position, _Dr. Cuddy_ " he said mischievously, touching her lips with his tongue.

"I'm very _traditional_ " she said, smiling on his lips.

"Yes, but... you like to command, _boss_ " he said biting her lip and sucking it slightly.

"... I'm not your boss _right now_..." she whispered, with a tone of voice that sent him a shiver in his lower abdomen.

House smiled and licked his lips moving a hand on her breast.

"So... is it _this_ what my wife loves?" he asked, raising an eyebrow mischievously rubbing his erection against her entrance, but not penetrating her, as a _mmmhhh_ escaped from her lips.

"God, Lisa... keep to bite your lip like that and I swear that I don't account for my own actions" he said, looking at her as she still deliberately bit her lower lip, then ran her tongue on her lips still staring at him.

"Are you challenging me, Cuddy?" he asked smiling and running in turn his tongue on his lips.

She said nothing, but her look was clearly a _yes._

Cuddy ran her hand on his neck and pulled him closer to herself.

House smiled and looked again for her mouth before going down on her breast to suck one of her nipples. He heard her moaning, as she suddenly arch her back, holding his head against her own breast. That was definitely one of her most sensitive parts when she was pregnant.

"Do you know what _I_ love?" he asked in a very aroused tone still sucking her nipple before looking for her mouth again as she could feel the tip of his penis teasing her entrance "Looking into your eyes as I do... _this_ ..." he said thrusting into her and penetrating her suddenly and deeply.

He watched her as she suddenly closed her eyes to that feeling and let out a moan before opened her eyes again to look at him. That look on her face would have been enough to make him come.

"Oh God, Greg..." she moaned as he thrust inside her again, but slowly making her savoring every inch of him "I love... _oh God_... to feel you so deep inside me..."

"God, Lisa..."

House found her mouth again as he moved more in and out of her and their breathing became more labored. He heard her holding her breath and digging her fingers into his back, and he thrust into her again giving her an intense orgasm. He lifted his head to look at her as she came and looked for her mouth trapping her moans in his.

"I love looking at you as you climax..." he said, kissing her again and still moving in her to prolong her pleasure.

"God... I love that ... you look at me..." he said with difficulty still looking for his lips. The tone of her voice so much aroused to send him a shiver in his lower parts.

He smiled, still looking for her mouth as she lowered her hand and touched him between his legs clutching gently his testicles in her hand.

"God... Lise..." he groaned, closing his eyes "... you make me come if you touch me like this..."

He stayed motionless for a moment as she moved under him, still touching him with her hand. She heard him holding his breath before letting out a hoarse moan and repeatedly thrust hard inside her indulging in turn to an extremely intense orgasm.

"Lisa..." he moaned collapsing in her arms, while she smiled and stroked his back and neck.

He stayed inside her savoring her touch and the scent of her skin as he rested his head between her breasts. And Cuddy savored the warmth of his body as he abandoned himself to her.

They could make love in different locations or places... feel more or less strong feelings... but ... after the passion... she loved that brief moment of total abandonment to one another... each one relaxed in the other one's arms... she felt to be his... and that he was hers...

"I love you..." she whispered, still stroking him.

House raised his head and bent to kiss her belly before going back to her lips.

"I love you..." he replied

"Do you forgive me?" She asked him with the hint of a smile.

He smiled on her lips.

"Maybe..." he said, laughing.

 **...**

* * *

"And now... do you forgive me?" she asked laughing, lifting her head to look at him while their breathings were still labored.

She looked at him as he opened his eyes and met her smile. She was still sitting with leg astride on him and he had his hands on her butt.

"Gosh... Cuddy..." he laughed "... definitely yes..." he added, looking for her lips again.

He reached out to take the blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders clinging her more to himself.

"And... I'm definitely crazy for you..." he added, kissing her again on the lips.

Cuddy smiled.

"It's what you say to all your women?" she asked jokingly stroking his nape.

House nodded conspicuously.

" However... _to them_... I use to say it before sex... not after" he laughed and looked for her lips again.

Cuddy turned her head so he couldn't kiss her, pretending to be offended, and House cupped her face with both hands still looking for her mouth and kissing her tenderly on the lips.

"What part of _'I want you only for myself'_ you didn't understand?" he said with a smile on her lips "You're only mine... and I'm only yours ... I'm much more _traditional_ than you think, Cuddy" he said kissing her again before hiding his head in the crook of her neck getting lost in her scent.

They held each other long on the couch.

"You still want to wait before... spread _the news_?" he asked, stroking her belly "I think more than someone in the hospital already suspects it" he said, smiling at her.

Cuddy smiled.

"I know..." she replied "... your mother knows... and my mother too..."

"Even Wilson" he added, laughing "Since several weeks actually"

"I had no doubts" she laughed "You boasted of your ability as _a snipe_ r?" she laughed again

"Actually I have good reason to do so" he laughed still stroking her belly and drawing her to him, kissing her on the mouth.

"Do you know...?" She said, resting her head again on his chest "after in vitro... and my miscarriage... I really thought I couldn't have children..."

House stroked her arm.

"You should have choose your sperm donor better" he said letting out a laugh.

Cuddy raised her head to look at him, biting her lip.

"Yes..." she said "I should have..." she added, brushing his lips.

"But we wouldn't have Rachel now..." he said.

"What?" She asked, looking into his eyes, surprised by those words.

"If you got pregnant five years ago... now we wouldn't have Rachel..." he said looking into her eyes "... I am glad that those donors were awful donors..." he added with a smile.

She bit her lip and smiled.

"If you could choose what would you like...?" she asked resting a hand on his, on her own belly.

"I don't know..." he said still stroking her belly "... I should say a boy... since we already have two girls... but honestly... I don't care that much..." he said " ... and ... it could not be so bad to be the only man in your life, Cuddy! " he laughed and kissed her lightly on the lips.

She smiled.

"You will always be... the only man in my life..." she replied kissing him again.

 **...**

* * *

Cuddy met House's gaze as he sliced the turkey. And for a moment she thought at that Thanksgiving with Lucas... House brought it up to her every year... a joke... it was part of a foreplay and she liked to play that game and make amend... What she had never told him was how many times she had looked at the clock that day, feeling guilty about that joke.

She smiled as he handed the first piece of turkey to Rachel and then turned to look at her straight in the eye.

"Sorry, but you lost your precedence" he said, laughing, looking at Cuddy "...kids first"

She laughed and nodded as she took a spoonful of mashed potatoes for Grace.

"What about the one in here?" She said, resting a hand on her four-months-pregnant belly.

"Right" he laughed, "A good justification, _Mom_ " he said looking at her and handing her a piece of turkey "For my offspring, not for its _incubator_ " he added with a wink as she threw him a mock glare.

He watched as she crumbled a bit of meat for Grace, then feeding her. Grace played with her spoon but she preferred to eat using her hands... the result was that she had mashed potatoes all over her face.

"Grace, give a little to Mommy" House said to her, approaching Cuddy and putting an arm around her shoulders, still looking at his daughter.

Grace's blue eyes lit up and a big smile appeared on her little face.

"Greg, no" Cuddy laughed as he held her and Grace reached for her. She opened her mouth but only a small bite hit the target... the rest ended up on her lips and chin.

House laughed as she glared at him, and he bent over her, cleaning her lips with his own mouth.

"Greg, no" she said, laughing and pushing him slightly away with her hand while with the other one she took a towel to clean herself and Grace.

House looked at her mischievously.

"Usually, you don't say _no_ when I lick you, Cuddy" he whispered, smiling at her with an amused and evil look at the same time.

"Do you want us to leave you two alone?" Wilson laughed, looking at House and then at Cuddy.

Cuddy covered her eyes with one hand and shook her head as she slap House on an arm, laughing.

 **...**

* * *

"The turkey was terrific, Lisa" Blythe said looking at her.

"Thank you" She replied "I had a great teacher then" she said, smiling at her.

"It was my mother's recipe. Family tradition." Blythe said "But I added some extras... I learned them from my sister" She laughed "She was better than me in these kind of things"

Cuddy smiled.

"Sarah?" She asked, referring to her mother-in-law's older sister. She talked often about her.

"No. Katherine." She said, smiling and shaking her head slightly, looking down. "Are you sure it's only one in there?" She asked looking up at her with the hint of a smile and pointing to her belly.

Cuddy looked at her with a questioning look, instinctively putting a hand on her baby bump.

"Er... yes" She replied meeting House's gaze.

He laughed, shaking his head slightly.

"My Aunt Kate was her twin sister" he said "So _your mother-in-law_ here was hoping to have two more grandchildren in one shot, Lisa" he laughed.

"Oh God" She laughed, shaking her head "No... _this_ is only one..." She laughed.

"Well... big families are very demanding" Blythe said "But we were six siblings and we had a lot of fun" she added, shaking her head.

"Careful Lisa!" House said laughing "... if it got unnoticed to you, that was a _subliminal_ _message_..." he added, looking at his mother and failing to hold back another laugh.

"Oh God..." she laughed "... I think that _'six'_ is definitely biologically impossible by now..."

"Right" Blythe said "I'll settle for _five_ then" she added jokingly.

 **...**

* * *

House watched Cuddy as she looked at Grace and Rachel playing on the floor, rubbing her belly.

"You okay?" He asked embracing her from behind and putting even his hands on her belly.

"Sure" She replied "I was thinking that... next year there's going to be three of them..." she said, smiling and resting her hands on House's ones.

"Yeah" he said, kissing her neck "Grace will eat with a spoon, and _'X' here_ will put its hands in the mashed potatoes"

Cuddy laughed.

" _X?"_ she asked.

"You don't want to know the sex... so it's _a mystery_ " he replied holding her tighter as she nodded.

They continued to look at their children playing with their toy-kitchen... or rather a bit playing and a bit quarreling, fighting for the same toy.

"I don't envy your grandmother... with six children... I can guess screams were multiplied by six" Cuddy said looking at a weeping Rachel as Grandma Blythe tried to console her and to explain to a one-year-old the incomprehensible concept of toys sharing .

"Yeah" he laughed "but not only screams" he added, looking at Grace as she crawled toward Rachel then trying to stand up to give her a make-up kiss.

Cuddy didn't answer, but smiled, clinging to him.

"Would you really have liked a big family?" She asked him "Well... if we were younger..." She clarified.

House laughed.

"I'm an only child. I envied those who had siblings." He said responding only indirectly to her question "So... maybe... why not?" he added.

House kissed her neck again and sucked slightly behind her ear.

"Greg, no" she said, still smiling clearly feeling a shiver in her most intimate part and meeting for a moment Wilson's gaze from across the room. "James is watching us" she added, bending her neck so he couldn't kiss her there again.

"Don't worry" he laughed "I promised him, as usual, a detailed drawing of everything I'll do to you tonight, _sweetheart_ " he said slyly in her ear emphasizing with an ironic tone that _'sweetheart'_ "He already let three wives get away... better to give him _private lessons_ before he let even his new girlfriend get away "he added, laughing.

Cuddy laughed, shaking her head slightly.

"Poor Wilson" she said laughing "You really are a good friend!" she added sarcastically looking into House's eyes.

"If you were a good friend Lisa..." he said mischievously in her ear "You would you let me to... I don't know... to make a video and..."

"Yeah! Sure! In another life maybe!" She said, rolling her eyes "... But you can always give him a detailed drawing even of what I will do to you tonight... _sweetheart_ " she said, looking for his eyes.


	10. January 7th

**CHAPTER 10 - January 7th**

 **...**

* * *

 _January 3td_

 _..._

* * *

Cuddy looked at House as he greeted his patient with a nod and approached the nurses' counter to take another folder.

"Greg? Have you got a minute?" She called him.

He looked up at her.

"It depends, _Dr. Cuddy_..." he answered with a smile "If it's my boss asking me... I'm busy! For my wife... well, I could find even more than _one_ minute..." he added with a sly smile.

Cuddy smiled and shook her head as she walked into the Clinic room with him.

"My meeting has been moved from 4 to 6 tonight ..." she said, looking at him and biting her lip "Do you think you'll be able to be at home with the girls? Or have I to call Marina?"

"If _my boss_ doesn't find me a case, I'm free" he replied looking at her and putting an arm around her waist "Will you be late?" He asked brushing her lips.

"It's the meeting for the budget prevision of this year... I hope it d..." she didn't finish her sentence, but suddenly closed her eyes, holding her breath.

"Hey... what's wrong?" House asked seeing her turning suddenly pale and putting a hand on her stomach as she leaned against him with the other hand.

"I... I need to sit down" she whispered, leaning more against him.

House wrapped her waist tighter with his arm and helped her to sit down.

"Do you have pain?"

She nodded, holding her stomach with her hand as she slowly exhaled.

"It happened earlier?" he asked, touching her tense belly and looking at her with a worried look.

"No..." she said "...but it's going..."

She met his concerned look.

"You need to see Dr. Roberts?" He said "Or do you want me to see you?"

"She's in the OR right now..." she said "And anyway... I trust you much more..." she added.

"Okay..." he said

He looked at her as she lay down on the bed. It wasn't the first time at all for him, but it was difficult to stay objective. They hadn't wanted to know the sex of the baby... now, for him, it would have been impossible not to notice it.

"There's no fetal distress, and there are no placental abruption signs..." he said, moving the ultrasound probe "Can you see?" Cuddy looked at the monitor and nodded "But your womb is contracted... I can already prescribe you Progesterone, but you need to see even Dr. Roberts as soon as she end up in the operating room ... and you have to rest..."

She nodded.

"Yes... I need to call Wells to cancel the meeting... "she added, looking into his eyes.

 **...**

* * *

House watched Cuddy. She was sitting on the couch, holding Grace in her arms and stroking her hair as she held her baby bottle in her tiny hands.

"Here" Rachel said running toward her mother "Above, below, behind, front... and even my tongue...Smell!" She said.

Cuddy laughed as her nostrils were flooded by a wave of mint aroma.

"Good, Honey" She said laughing "But tell Dad not to let you eat the whole toothpaste tube next time" she laughed again, glancing at House.

Rachel laughed in turn and kissed her mother on the lips.

"Come, Grace" House said reaching for her "Say goodnight to Mommy"

Grace looked at her father and then at her mother.

"No" she said putting her arms around her mother's neck and clinging more to her. _No_ was one of the first words she had learned several months earlier. " _No, ma-ma_ " she said with a serious look, hiding her face against her mother's shoulder.

Cuddy held her and stroked her back.

"Okay, Honey" she said meeting House's gaze "Mom is going to put you in bed..."

She puts her in her crib and tucked the blanket, letting Grace to stamp a slobbery goodnight kiss on her face.

She stroke her hair again, looking at her as she sucked on her pacifier and closed her eyes clutching her stuffed lamb.

House tucked Rachel's blanket and put the bedtime book on the bedside table meeting Cuddy's gaze as she rubbed her back.

"I know... I have to lie down" she said, leaning against the crib and anticipating his words.

House looked at her as she undresses and slipped under the covers letting out a slight smile as she stroked her five-months pregnant belly.

"Does it kick?" he asked as he lay down beside her.

"Yes" she replied as he reached out to stroke her baby bump.

As it had happened with Grace, it was a strange sensation to feel _his_ baby moving inside her. And knowing its sex made everything more real.

"After this morning, I don't know if I can stand another four months without telling you anything, Cuddy" he said

She smiled.

"Don't tell me" she said smiling.

"Ok" he said "I'll be as silent as a fish" he said, looking away "Do you think the Mall sells newborn _lacrosse_ outfit?" He asked her, laughing.

Cuddy glared at him and House laughed.

"I'll have _one lacrosse_ and _one ballerina_ outfit just to confuse your mind, ok?

Cuddy laughed and stroked his stubble kissing him lightly on the lips before suddenly putting a hand on her abdomen again as the expression on her face changed.

"Do you still have pain? " he asked feeling her belly suddenly clench under his hand. He heard her holding her breath for a moment.

"My back..." she whispered, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly.

"How bad?" he asked.

"Could you get me the pills I left in the kitchen, please?" She said avoiding eye contact.

He looked at her as he stood up and left the room. He knew that she had deliberately avoided answering his question.

He handed her a glass of water and a pill and looked at her as she closed her eyes and curled up near him, relaxing at the touch of his hand stroking her arm resting on his chest.

 **...**

* * *

 _January 7th_

...

* * *

House looked up sensing her presence on the door.

"Hi" he said "What are you doing here?"

Cuddy sat down in the chair in front of his desk.

"Dr. Roberts moved up my follow-up visit of the afternoon... but she had an emergency... she's going to call me as soon as she's free..." she said "If I'm disturbing you I can wait in my office" she added with the hint of a smile.

"You never disturb me" he said "Except when the _boss-version of you_ comes here to force me to do more clinic duty" he added, laughing.

She laughed and nodded.

"The _boss-version_ took a few days off... this is the _wife-version_... but she can be a pain in the ass too" she laughed.

"I know" he laughed in turn.

She had been better in recent days. Only occasional contractions, not particularly strong. No work. No sex. Just rest in bed or sofa. She stood up to go to the bathroom ... to eat... nothing else... just rest... complete rest.

"I need to pee" she said standing up "Remember me to put a bathroom closer to your office" she said with a smile before heading out the door.

He saw her coming back after a few minutes.

She walked in but paused before sitting down again... and House caught her gaze...

Pain suddenly hit her like a stab. Acute... radiating from her back to her belly and down along her legs. She'd already experienced that kind of pain. A little over a year earlier.

House saw her turning pale.

 _"Oh God..."_ He suddenly heard her moaning as she leaned against the chair with her hand.

House immediately stood up, moving close to her and holding her by the arm. She felt her knees give way.

"Lisa..."

She didn't answer. Her eyes were closed and she kept a hand on her stomach as her breathing was heavy and labored. She couldn't talk.

"God... no..." she heard her moan as she felt a warm liquid along her legs.

He met her gaze for a moment and froze.

"Lisa... breathe..." he said, trying to stop her from hyperventilating as she flopped to the ground unable to stand on her legs.

He left her just for a moment.

"I NEED HELP!" he shouted in the hallway before going back to her.

 **...**

* * *

"How is she?" Wilson asked placing a hand on House's shoulder.

House shook his head and ran a hand over his face.

"She's bleeding ... she has contractions and is dilated... it's just a matter of time..." he said

Wilson shook his head.

House kept his eyes on Lisa as Dr. Roberts examined her again and the nurse added a vial into the drip. He watched her as she closed her eyes putting a hand on her forehead, trying not to think about her pain... and sorrow.

"The baby?" he asked.

House looked at him.

"There's fetal distress... but there would be nothing to do anyway... she's only 21-weeks pregnant... it's inevitable... it can't survive outside of her body" he paused, watching Lisa and then Wilson again "...in 4 or 5 weeks maybe it would have had a chance... but not now... "

"I'm sorry House..." Wilson said.

House nodded.

"I'm not worried about me... I'm worried about her..." he said "She keep begging me to do something... not to let our baby die... I can't see her like this..."

"House... she's not clear headed... she knows there's nothing you can do..."

"I know" he replied "...but I wish there is..."

Wilson looked at his friend. Powerless in front of his wife's sorrow and his own sorrow...

He saw Dr. Roberts approach them.

"House... please... may we talk?"

He nodded his head.

"I increased the analgesic dosage... but she's losing a lot of blood..." she said, placing her hand on his arm "It's already several hours... she's not clear headed... I know it's not easy to take this decision but there is no other choice... we can wait for nature to take its course, or I'm going to do it right now... In any case, the _fetus_ is too small to survive... and Lisa's hemoglobin is already 9...and it's falling ... I wouldn't take this risk, House... " she said, looking into his eyes.

House licked his lips and bit his lip as he look up at Cuddy again. He nodded and took the folder from Dr. Roberts's hands putting his signature on the consent form.

"Do it now" he said handing her the folder and walking out of the door.

 _..._

* * *

"House"

Wilson stood in the door frame of House's office. House was by back and he didn't turn toward him as he heard his voice.

"Are you ok?" He asked approaching him "I thought you were with Lisa..."

House still didn't turn.

"She's still on sedation..." he said

"Ok... I'm in my office, House... call me for... everything..." he said, knowing that he wanted to be alone "...everything ..." he repeated, turning and leaving his office.

House nodded but again didn't turn. He ran a hand over his face as he heard his friend's footsteps going away and stood up looking out of the window.

Lisa hadn't needed surgery. In the end Nature had done its course. But he had asked to sedate her immediately after... she wasn't in the mental state to stand the sight of that tiny lifeless body.

He still saw that tiny body in front of his eyes. For a moment the irrational part of him had hoped... He knew it was impossible... He knew that even if it would be born _alive_ it couldn't have lived more than a few minutes... maybe a couple of hours... he knew it...

He thumped a fist on the wall, but that pain didn't minimally nicked the grief he felt inside him. For his wife. For his _unborn_ child. He breathed deeply and looked up rolling his eyes to stop his tears from falling, before walking out of his office.

 **...**

* * *

Cuddy opened her eyes. She felt as if she had slept for months. The light outside the window was dim ... it was still early in the morning ... She looked at the IV in her arm... and slightly turned her head toward the chair beside her hospital bed. House was there, his head tilted back, asleep.

She remembered the look on his face as she flopped on his office floor... and the one he had had when he had realized what was going on... and she closed her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek.

She opened her eyes again, biting her lip... and met the blue of his eyes...

Again she saw the look she had seen in his eyes the night before...

She remembered every moment of that night, but the images in her mind were not clear... they were _hazed_... as if it wasn't real... but it was... and she knew it...

She put a hand over her face as she closed her eyes and turned her head away, unable to hold his gaze.

She hadn't even seen her child... she knew that he had wanted to protect her preventing her from doing it... but now... she didn't want to talk about it... she didn't want to know... she just wanted to close her eyes and disappear.

* * *

...

...

 _ **Sorry about this chapter! It was provided since the first chapter but I have to admit that it was hard to write this... I'll make amend! I promise.**_


	11. Back to the beginnings

_[The first part of this chapter is the same as the first one]_...

* * *

...

 **CHAPTER 11 - Back to the beginnings**

...

* * *

She was sitting in her office unable to focus on the document in front of her. Her eyes stared at the two pictures on her desk, but her mind was far away from that room.

 _We were so happy that day ..._ she thought looking at the picture of her wedding.

It wasn't a classic pose in front of a photographer. That picture had been taken by Wilson after the ceremony. She liked the spontaneity of that picture. House wrapping her waist and looking into her eyes with a look that still could send her a shiver down her spine. He hated wedding receptions as much as the ceremony in itself, and she knew it, but in that picture his smile was spontaneous and... just for her...

She smiled thinking about the emotions of that day. She could relive those emotions just by looking at that picture... as if they had been captured in a single shot.

That day was a sunny day on May and he had awakened her with a kiss... well... not just a kiss...

May 17th. Their second anniversary and now also their wedding anniversary.

Her gaze lingered on the other picture on her desk. House holding an asleep baby Grace and looking at a smiling Rachel beside him. Grace was just two months old.

She could remember the exact moment in which she had taken that picture. None of them was looking at the lens. House looked at Rachel, Rachel looked at Grace. And they smiled.

She smiled back at the memory of those long sleepless nights. It had been a year since that picture and those moments seemed now so far away.

 _Memories are always sweeter than reality..._ she thought... _in memories fears, fatigue, tears... everything fades, leaving only the warmth of good times... or a fade image of the bad ones..._

She touched those picture as if she could touch those moments of her life.

Her heart clenched as a thought invaded her mind ... someone was missing in those pictures... Someone else would have to be in a picture on her desk and... in its father's arms. But there would never be...

"Hey..." a voice woke her up from that thought. _His_ voice.

She looked up and for a moment her gray-blue eyes met House's piercing blue ones. She couldn't avoid biting her lower lip imperceptibly, and she looked down, avoiding his gaze.

House still look at her while she looked down.

"Let's go home?" he asked, approaching her.

Cuddy nodded and closed her computer.

Neither of them spoke as she wore her coat and they exited together from the Princeton-Plainsboro main door on that cold evening in late February.

 **...**

* * *

House went into Rachel and Grace's bedroom and his eyes tried to focus the images in the dark of the room. It was three in the morning.

Rachel was asleep in her bed. Cuddy sat in the rocking chair by the window holding Grace in her arms and rocking her slowly.

"Is she asleep?" He asked.

Cuddy nodded.

"Just a bad dream ..." she said as she stood up still watching the asleep baby in her arms. Every time she looked at her it seemed impossible that it had already been over a year since she had held her in her arms for the first time.

She stroked her soft brown curls and brushed her cheek with her lips while she put her in the crib, tucking the blanket.

"Come, let's go back to bed..." House said, reaching for her.

Cuddy slipped under the covers and shivered at the contact with the sheets.

House reached out to her and she clung to him looking for the warmth of his body, stroking his chest through his shirt. She missed the contact with his body ...

House stroked her arm and felt her relaxing in that caress...

He sought her eyes and bent to kiss her lightly, touching her lips...

He kept to look at her as if to ask permission before deepening the kiss.

She closed her eyes and kissed him back seeking and stroking his tongue.

He gently stroked her waist and slid his hand further down to stroke her inner thighs and the soft fabric of her lace panties. She whispered a _mmmhhhh_ to that caress continuing to kiss him in a long, deep, slow kiss.

Her body needed him... her mind was in desperate need of being relieved from the painful thoughts that crowded it...

House stroked her hip again, then moving up to caress her breasts.

His hand went back down her body savoring the feel of her skin beneath his fingers as his mouth didn't leave hers.

He loved her skin... he loved her body... he loved _her._

His hand stroked her slightly again and touched her belly. And she immediately _froze_.

Her tongue stopped in his mouth and she opened her eyes meeting the piercing blue of his.

She put a hand on House's chest, slightly pushing him away from her, while a lump clenched her throat more and more...

"I-I'm sorry..." she whispered, turning her head to avoid his gaze "I-I... c-can't..."

House looked at her and saw her eyes filling with tears again as she looked away.

"It's all right..." he whispered.

She couldn't look into his eyes. Looking at those eyes was too much painful. In those eyes she saw the same look of that night.

 _Those eyes..._

She loved those eyes...

Grace had those same eyes... right.. those same eyes... _Grace had those same eyes..._

House pulled her to him and held her in his arms while she hid her face on his chest.

He just held her as she sobbed against his chest and his shirt dampened with tears. He couldn't do anything else for her... just holding her tight.

He _should have_ protected her... he _wanted_ to protect her... but he had failed...

He didn't feel guilty. He had no guilt. But he felt helpless. Completely helpless in front of a destiny that they hadn't deserved.

 **...**

* * *

 _A couple of weeks later_

...

* * *

"How's Lisa?" Wilson asked, sitting in front of him at the cafeteria table.

House looked up from his coffee cup meeting his friend's eyes.

"She still has sleeping problems..." he replied looking to the dark liquid in the cup again.

"It's only been two months..." Wilson said looking at the serious expression on House's face.

He nodded and took a sip of coffee before returning to look at Wilson.

"She avoid me..." he said looking away and then focusing again on the cup in his hands.

"Do you think she blame you for what happened?" He asked, feeling immediately guilty about that question.

"No..." he replied "Actually.. I don't know..." he paused for a moment "... maybe it would be better if she does..."

"It's not your fault" he said looking at his friend.

"She didn't want to have another child... I shouldn't have..." he didn't finish the sentence, avoiding Wilson's gaze and finishing his cup of coffee in a long sip.

"House, don't..."

He left the sentence hanging. _Don't_... _what?_ _What could he say?_ For once in his life even James Wilson was in lack of words... He felt a great grief for his friends. And there were no words that could console them. Every word was unnecessary and out of place.

House's attitude had surprised him. _No..._ it hadn't surprised him... it had _shocked_ him ...

 _His first impulse had been to go for Vicodin again._

 _The night of that January 7th._

That night House had opened the door of his office, without knocking, as usual, and had placed that orange bottle on his desk. He had seen that scene a thousand times.

 _"House... no" he said, shaking his head "How many have you taken?" He asked looking at the watery eyes of his friend and then at the bottle on his desk._

 _He should have foreseen it._ Vicodin. _Stolen. A prescription not for himself but for a certain Mr. Neil Hicks... according to the label. In the moment of grief he hadn't been able to avoid seeking refuge in what allowed him to escape from that sorrow. Again._

 _"It's still full" he said, swallowing and pointing to the bottle with a nod "Arrange for it remaining like that, Wilson"_

 _Arrange for it remaining like that, Wilson ..._ his way of asking for his help...

He never would have thought to see that strength in his friend. He never would have thought he could see that maturity in him. He never would have thought of seeing _his tears._

"She practically doesn't talk to me..." House said diverting Wilson from those memories "... she can't even look me straight in the eyes..." he added

"You have to give her time, House..." he said

"I don't want to lose her, Wilson" he said, looking him straight in the eye.

"She loves you, House. Just be with her... give her time..."

 **...**

* * *

"Lisa, may we talk for a minute?" Wilson asked as they left the room after the Board Meeting.

"Sure" she replied "Just a second..." she said moving away to deliver a few documents to the nurse behind the counter.

Wilson looked at her. It was already one month since she was back at work and she seemed the usual Cuddy. _Apparently_ she was the usual Cuddy. She had lost a lot of weight in recent weeks and although she still have a great body that weight loss was a sign of her discomfort. He watched her as she smiled at the nurse before greeting her and going toward him again. She tried to smile and it was a good sign... but that _wasn't_ her smile... her lips smiled... her eyes _didn't_...

They walked together down the hallway to her office.

"I know what you want to talk about, James" she said as soon as she closed the office door.

She sat down on the couch and looked at Wilson as he sat down beside her, without answering.

"House is worried..." Wilson said, looking into her eyes.

Cuddy bit her lip and sighed.

"I know..." she said, rubbing her neck "What did he say?" She asked.

"Nothing... just that... you still have sleeping problems and that you're..." he hesitated not finding the right word ".. _distant_..." he added.

She continued to look at him without saying anything.

"He... he's afraid of losing you..." he said.

Cuddy looked down.

"I love him..." she replied "but..."

"It's not his fault, Lisa..."

Cuddy suddenly looked up meeting his eyes.

"I don't blame him, James!" She replied without hesitation "I don't blame... _him_..." she repeated "I..." she hesitated and took a deep breath as her voice cracked "I... I blame _myself_..." she added as a lump choked the words in her throat tears and she pushed back her tears.

She shook her head, looking down and taking a deep breath.

"I... can't... I can't even look into his eyes, James ..." she whispered "... because... it's my fault if..." she couldn't finish that sentence as words died in her throat. She wiped away with her hand the tears that were beginning to roll down her cheeks and tried to take another deep breath.

Wilson put a hand on hers.

"It's not your fault, Lisa... none is to blame for what happened..." he said, stroking her hand.

"He loves you... you love him... don't let this drift you apart..."

Cuddy looked into his eyes and nodded.

"I know..." she whispered.

Wilson looked at her straight in the eyes.

"You have to go on, Lisa... for yourself and your husband... you have two beautiful little girls... you have to do it for them..."

Cuddy looked at him and Wilson saw a shadow in her eyes.

" _Two_..." she repeated, still biting her lip "... Rachel and Grace are fine, James ... they never saw me cry..." she added, as if to justify herself "... but... I can't pretend that... _those months_ never happened... and I can't pretend _that night_ never happened... "

Wilson weighed her words but didn't answer and she continued...

"I can't look into his eyes because... I see again the way he looked at me _when I_..." she hesitated failing to finish that sentence ... to say those words... "... I see again the way in which he looked at me that night..." she whispered as her voice cracked again.

"Lisa... sooner or later you'll need to find the strength to say those words..." he said, knowing that she avoided those words because the bare sound of them hurt her too much.

She bit her lip but didn't answer and looked down.

"What did you see in his look, Lisa?" He asked.

Cuddy looked up again.

"Fear..." she replied "... sorrow... and..." she hesitated "... disappointment..."

Wilson looked at her and shook his head slightly.

Cuddy alzò di nuovo gli occhi

"I'm going to tell you what _I_ saw, Lisa" he said looking into her eyes "I saw... fear ... I saw a man, helpless in front of his wife's pain and sorrow... I saw grief for the loss you both experienced... but... never... nor for one second... I saw disappointment... " he made a little pause " ... it's not your fault... " he repeated" ... and if you'd talk with him... he'd tell you the same"

 **...**

* * *

It had been a few days, but Wilson's words kept turning in her head.

She still felt uncomfortable when she was with House because those unspoken words continued to hover between them.

He hadn't left her alone. He could have done it. The _old_ House would. But he hadn't. Every night they fell asleep in their own bedside. She curled up by her bedside facing away from him, he stayed by the other side. And the empty space between them was proportional to the emptiness she felt inside herself.

But she knew he was looking at her... she could feel his eyes on herself even though she was back turned...

She had withdrawn and he had left her space... he wanted to approach but he didn't know how ... and he just complied with her need to be alone...

She was the one who didn't want to talk ... she was the one who didn't want to be comforted ... and yet... he hadn't left her alone...

He spooned and hugged her every night when he thought she was asleep... and she knew it...

She looked at the wedding ring on her finger next to her engagement ring... and then at the bracelet on her wrist. She lightly touched those charms with her fingers and bit her lip feeling another lump in her throat. Two heart-shaped charms. _Two_. She inhaled deeply as she could feel tears misting her eyes.

She had attended the memorial service for her child... but it was as if she wasn't there that day. She couldn't remember almost anything... just clouded images... she could just remember the feeling of House's arm around her waist. Nothing else. It wasn't even a real funeral... because legally her baby wasn't dead... it was _stillborn_... so in a sense it was as if it weren't born...

And she had avoided to talk about it. She had never gone to the cemetery. She never mentioned it. She hadn't even wanted to know the baby's sex. She didn't want to remember.

She had never said _its_ name after that night... _but it had a name_...

Not officially ... but they had already chosen a name... And not wanting to know the sex of the baby, they had opted for a name that suited both for a boy and a girl... that name was the only thing left of her baby...

She thought back again to the words Wilson had told her... and she got up from her desk.

 **...**

* * *

House sensed her presence on his office door and looked up from the magazine he was reading.

"Hey" he said meeting her gaze as she stared at him.

She smiled lightly and approached his desk doing a few more steps toward him and then sitting on his left leg.

House looked at her. She haven't been the one moving closer to him first for almost two months... she haven't been walking into _that_ office for two months...

She looked into his eyes... and held his look slightly biting her lip.

"What's up?" He asked putting his hands around her waist, still looking into her eyes.

She stared back at him.

"Hold me" she whispered while hiding her face in the crook of his neck, clinging to him and inhaling his scent.

House held her, inhaling her scent in turn and kissing her hair as he stroked her back with both hands.

She kissed his neck and stroked his face with one hand moving her lips from his neck to his jaw and then up to his lips.

"Tell me you love me, Greg..." she whispered on his lips while her eyes misted "...please... tell me you love me..."

House looked at her and cupped her face in his hands caressing her cheeks with his thumbs.

"I love you, Lisa..." he said as the tone of his voice sent a shiver down her spine. She knew that shiver. "You know that... I love you..." he repeated on her lips.

"Take me away from this place..." she whispered, stroking his stubble and touching his lips lightly.

He looked at her not understanding what she meant.

"Let's go away... just you and me..." she said "... just a couple of days... please... I need you..." she added, looking into his eyes.

House smiled and stroked her face, this time looking for her lips.

 _God, how much he had missed those lips... that tongue... that mouth._

A mixture of feelings merged into that kiss and he savored every shade of it.


	12. Thunder Road-trip - Part 1

_Who doesn't remember those famous pics on the beach which unfortunately we never saw in the TV series? ... Here's my version of it!_

* * *

 **...**

 **CHAPTER 12 - Thunder Road-trip - Part 1**

 **...**

* * *

"I've called my mother ... she has no problem to look after Rachel and Grace for a few days..." he said "... even more if you want..." he added, leaning against the door frame.

She turned to him and nodded, holding back the urge to look down as he stared at her.

"What are you looking for?" He asked smiling, pointing to the closet behind her.

"These..." she answered, opening a box and throwing the contents toward him.

House caught a leather boot while the other one hit him lightly on the arm and fell to the floor. He had given them to her a couple of years before, but she had never used them.

"Bad aim as ever, Cuddy!" he said with a laugh.

For a moment he saw her smiling... he haven't been seeing a smile illuminating her eyes for a long time... but it was just a moment before she looked away again, almost unable to hold his gaze.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, brushing her arm as she looked up at him again.

"That trip on the coast we planned but... we never had..." she said

"By bike?" he asked, surprised by that proposal.

She smiled lightly and bit her lip, however approaching him and letting him wrap her waist with his hands.

"I just want to be with you ... and don't think..." she whispered on his lips, this time looking into his eyes "... I want to forget, for a moment, who I am..." he said, brushing his lips "I... I love you... and I need to feel that you love me too..." she said as he held her closer.

She knew he loved her and he knew she knew it. But she was fragile... like she had never been ...

"Okay" he whispered on her lips "Take just a few things" he said "... we're going to leave in ten minutes..."

 **...**

* * *

She clung to him while the motorcycle sped down the road in the dark.

She hated bike... and that sense of instability that it gave her... but clung closer to him... She trusted him and at that moment she didn't care about anything else... She just wanted to forget... she just wanted to prevent her mind from thinking... everything could be fine... even her fear of speed... She opened her eyes seeing the street lights speeding beside her and closed them again... yes, even fear could be fine... anything but not thinking...

They stopped at a small hotel near the beach. House got off the bike, took off his helmet and helped her off, unbuckling her helmet and taking it from her.

"My legs are trembling..." she said, laughing, feeling unsteady on her legs.

He laughed.

"You were too tense..." he said moving a lock of hair from her face "I guess I have your hands tattooed on my stomach, Cuddy" he laughed again making her smile.

"Sorry..." she said, shaking her head and laughing.

He loved her laugh... he missed the sound of her laughter.

She watched as he stared at her and bit her lip, sensing his thoughts.

"Let's go?" She said, pointing to the hotel.

House nodded.

It was a small hotel a few feet from the beach. The man at the reception desk was a short man in his sixties. ' _Peter'_ the golden plate on his jacket said. He looked at them as they entered and smiled. Given the time they could be two lovers running from their lives. Two lovers in their leather boots looking for a night of passion within those walls. He had seen many of them from behind that counter. He handed to House the key of the room and greeted them.

Cuddy looked around as she entered the room. It was a small room... very different from the five-star hotel she was used to when traveling on business...

"It's perfect..." she said as if she had thought that out loud.

It was exactly what she needed... a couple of days away from her world ... a couple of days to find herself... and to find _her husband_...

House placed on the bed their little bag and looked at her as she opened the door to the small terrace.

A small terrace overlooking the ocean. It was dark and she couldn't see the ocean... but she could _feel_ it... she could smell it, and she could hear the sound of the waves... She stood motionless in that almost surreal atmosphere...

"Hey..." House said, embracing her from behind "You'll get a cold if you stay here... it's less than 50° F outside..."

She smiled and clung more to him before closing the French-door. She sat on the bed to take off her boots.

"Those boots becomes you, Cuddy" House said watching as she took them off and dropped them on the floor.

"My feet hurt" she said, smiling slightly.

House looked at her quizzically, shaking his head.

" _You_... you can be twelve hours on 5-inches heels and you can't stay a few hours in a pair of boots?" He laughed grabbing her feet and placing them in his lap, starting to massage her with both hands.

She smiled and placed a pillow behind her back as he massaged her feet.

"Oh God..." she moaned, closing her eyes as he massaged the sole of her foot.

House looked at her and licked his lips, letting out a smile.

"If you have an orgasm right now... I'll know you're simulating, Cuddy" he laughed as she opened her eyes and glare at him but unable not to let out a smile.

"I was joking..." he said smiling "Relax" he added as she closed her eyes again.

House continued to look at her as he rubbed her fingers gently, her ankles, the back and the soles of her feet, pressing harder in some spots and lighter in others... he saw her features relaxing while she indulged in that caress.

He hadn't touched her for two months... and he hadn't stopped to want her... and yet it wasn't sex what he missed... he missed her caresses... he missed her kisses... he missed the warmth of her body as she slept... he missed to laugh with her... he missed her jokes... the way she always can stand to his sarcasm...

She was very slim... like she had never been... but above all she was fragile... like she had never been ...

House couldn't help but be surprised that their relationship was still standing after the tsunami that had devastated them. She had always been the stronger one. The shoulder that had always supported him. In the mess of his life she had always been his strong point. His rock. And in the instant in which that rock had faltered, caving inexorably to the ground, he had thought they wouldn't be able to get up again. _He didn't want to lose her_ and that was the only certainty that had let him going on in those two months.

He met her gaze and she bit her lip, but didn't look down. She sat up and stroked his face.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked.

"How much I love you..." he said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

She bit her lip even more and looked down feeling the tears coming.

"Hey" he said, drawing her closer to him.

"Sorry..." she said, looking up again to meet the blue of his eyes "It's just that..." she inhaled deeply, and looked into his eyes again "God... I love you so much..." she said still stroking his face.

"That makes two of us" he said, smiling at her and looking into her eyes.

She laughed, shaking her head slightly and looking for his lips and then his tongue. House let her to lead that kiss but put his hands in her hair holding her tight as she kissed him and he kissed her back.

He wanted to slip his hand under her shirt and touch her skin, but he held back that instinct. She needed time and the last thing he wanted was to force things.

She read his mind again and smiled.

"I feel like... like I went back of twenty years, Greg..." she whispered on his lips.

"So... I'll court you as I should have done twenty years ago, Lisa" he replied looking for her lips as she smiled.

 **...**

* * *

House took off his shirt and slipped under the sheets. He watched her as she took off her shirt and bra, not facing him. He kept looking at her shoulders and back and at the curve of her lower back as she took off her jeans slipping into one of his T-shirts. It obviously was oversize on her.

"The Led Zeppelin definitely prefer to be on you than on me" he said smiling slightly as she slipped under the covers.

Cuddy smiles slightly, but hesitated a moment, undecided whether or not to move closer to him.

"Come here" he said, reaching for her arm. He stroked her arm and kissed her hair.

Cuddy rested her head on his chest and inhaled the scent of his skin. She was in desperate need of his body... but she felt stuck. He felt her stroking his chest and turning slightly towards him, bending her leg on his... but she stopped as soon as her knees touched his partial erection. He lifted her face and took her by the arm, kissing her lightly on the lips and seeing the hesitation in her eyes.

"Hey..." he said, brushing her lips "Trust me..."

She nodded and smiled slightly again as he made her lie on her back and bent to kiss her staying by her side and not on top of her. He stroked her hip with his hand and went up slowly, just brushing lightly her skin under the shirt. He felt her shudder at that contact and saw her close her eyes.

He continued to caress her slowly moving his mouth to kiss her neck and she moved her hand on his back, stroking his back slowly.

He lightly stroked her breasts through her shirt continuing to kiss her slowly.

He wanted to lift her shirt and touch her nipples with his thumb, feeling them harden beneath his fingers, but he felt the hesitant reaction of her body to his caresses and let that shirt to be her armor. He let her continuing to feel protected by that thin layer of fabric. She haven't been letting him to see her naked for two months. He haven't touched her for two months. She rejected her own body since that night. She blamed her body for having betrayed her... and certainly there was no need to be a psychologist to know that.

He looked into her eyes as he bent his head again to kiss her neck moving then along her jaw... her chin... and back to her neck... He kissed her collarbone through her shirt and went to kiss her cleavage, moving then slowly on her breast. God, he wanted to feel the softness of her skin on his lips... He continued to caress her, moving his thumb lightly around her nipple before cupping her breast in his hand, slightly squeezing it, while a small moan escaped from her lips. He could feel her nipples come to life under that shirt and tried to ignore what had definitely come to life in his lower parts.

Cuddy's hand reached House's hand on her breast and stroked him with her thumb searching his eyes before you intertwining her fingers with his. House looked at her hand clasped in his, their fingers entwined with no continuous solution. That gesture had now a special meaning, the same meaning it had had on that night of three years ago... and once again an answer to a silent _help me_.

He move his eyes in hers touching her lips. He didn't say _I love you_... but she read those three words in his eyes... a much more deeper _I love you_ than the one he could have said loud.

She didn't look away as she drove his hand under her shirt and looked for his tongue timidly at first and then more deeply clinging closer to him and getting lost in that long kiss.

House pulled away from her lips to look at her and she opened her eyes... blue lost in the blue... her cheeks had taken a little color and her pupils were dilated. He touched her lips again while he slowly lifted her shirt to have more access to her skin.

Cuddy didn't push his hand away, but House could feel her hesitation... he could read it in her eyes...

For years she had played with him letting him peeking into her neckline. To know how much he wanted her body had always given her a feeling of power. She was used to have men's eyes on herself ... but her necklines have never been for _those men_ but for _a certain man_... To know of being Dr. Gregory House's main sexual fantasy had satisfied her ego for years. Those necklines had always been for him ... as they had been in Michigan, twenty years earlier. And yet... now she felt naked... not only physically...

She couldn't help but shiver as soon as his fingers touched her breast again, this time skin to skin. Discomfort. Not _pleasure_... and House looked at her as she closed her eyes biting her lip slightly.

"God ... I'm sor..." she whispered without opening her eyes. And her voice trembled as she could feel tears just waiting to appear in her eyes.

House brushed her lips continuing to slowly caress her skin.

"Shhh ..." he whispered softly on her lips not letting her finish her sentence, bending down to brush her nipple with his lips. He continued to kiss her breast long, lingering on every inch of her cleavage. Not passionate kisses, but light kisses and touches. He let her relax to that feeling ... minute by minute... getting lost in that feeling, before moving to the next step and touch her lightly with his tongue, gently sucking on a nipple. He felt her shivering again, while a different shiver from that first one made her slightly arch herr back. But that moment of hesitation was still there...

Her body wanted his as much as he wanted hers... but her mind was still blocked and it wasn't a night of sex what he wanted...

Cuddy breathed in as if to say something, but he stopped her again and kissed her lips.

"Don't say it" he whispered on her mouth preventing her from saying again that " _I'm sorry"._

"Those aren't the three words in my mind now..." he added, meeting her gaze as she opened her eyes "Those are _never the three words_ in my mind when I look at you..."

He kissed her on the lips still caressing her hip and whispered the only three words waiting to exit from his lips ...

... _I love you_...

Cuddy smiled still biting her lip and nodded slightly, stroking his neck and failing to prevent a tear rolling down her cheek as she closed her eyes for a moment.

"I love you so much..." she said in a whisper as he wiped away that tear with his thumb "I just... would like to..."

He kissed her lips again preventing her to finish that sentence. He knew that what she wanted was to be able of _letting go_ , but she still couldn't do it.

"One step at a time..." he said on her lips "... you just have to trust me..."

She said nothing but smiled stroking his beard as he kissed her again lightly on the lips.

"Try to sleep now... you need some rest..." he said pulling her to himself and making her rest her head on his chest continuing to stroke her arm as he felt her relax in his arms.

House continued to listen to the sound of her breathing as she fell asleep in his arms and closed his eyes waiting for the sleep to come, granting him to free his mind from the thoughts that crowded in it just for a few hours. Those thoughts were still there ... they have been swirling in his head for two months... dormant during the day, wake up at night... _Pain happens when you care_ _._.. He wished she weren't so damn right! For a moment that night, two months earlier, he wished he never met her! Why the hell it couldn't have been someone else behind the counter of that bookstore twenty years earlier! It would have saved her that pain! And it would have saved himself that pain! _Sorrow and love_... so different feelings, yet sometimes so close ... But even that immense sorrow equaled the happiness she had brought into his life! No! Meeting her was the best thing in his life. She was the most amazing thing in his life. And Grace. And Rachel. He loved her. Not past. _Present. And future._

 _Pain happens when you care_ _._.. If pain was part of that _game_ he was willing to play.


	13. Thunder Road-trip - Part 2

_Hey! Here I am again. First of all I want to thank everyone who spent a few minutes of their time to leave me a review or send me a message. And thank you all so much for adding my story to your alerts or to your favorite! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! I'm trying to work on this story as soon as I can... sorry if sometimes I'm not fast enough ;) ...now...enjoy! ...I know you will ;)_

* * *

 **...**

 **CHAPTER 13 - Thunder Road-trip - Part 2**

 **...**

* * *

House woke up in a empty bed. it wasn't 8 am yet. He looked around. She wasn't there, and nor her clothes. He quickly got dressed and went down in the hotel hall.

"Mr. House?"

He turned around seeing the same man who had welcomed them the night before. _Peter._

"Your wife left this for you, Sir" he said, handing him a note.

He read it quickly before greeting him just with a nod and walking away.

...

* * *

He took off his shoes as he walked on the sand watching her from afar as he approached. She sat near the shore, bare-footed, her knees bent and close to her chest and her chin resting on her knees. Eyes fixed on the ocean in front of her. Loose hair that the wind sent occasionally on her face without her caring about moving them.

"Good morning" he said, sitting beside her on the sand.

"Good morning" she replied.

"I got your message" he said handing her a bag and bending to kiss her lightly on the lips.

Cuddy peered into the bag. She pulled out two paper cups of hot coffee and took a bite of one of the muffins.

"God..." she said, closing her eyes "... I almost forgot this taste..."

She opened her eyes meeting his smile and approached the muffin to his mouth to let him taking a bite. House looked at her and took a big piece smiling as the crumbs fell on him. She couldn't help but smile as she cleaned with her hand the crumbs that had fallen on his shirt, looking up and meeting his eyes. And... she looked for his mouth as if they never kissed... savoring the sweet taste on his tongue and getting lost in his mouth.

She looked into his eyes as she broke away from that kiss and smiled, leaning her forehead on his.

"Thank you for the breakfast" she said on his lips.

"You're welcome" he said handing her one of the two cup of coffee and putting an arm around her shoulders as they sipped the hot liquid looking at the ocean.

...

* * *

The beach was deserted, except for a few gulls, and the sun was still low on the horizon in that cool morning on early March.

Cuddy shivered, wrapping her sweatshirt tighter around herself and huddled up again with her knees to her chest, resting her chin on her knees... He looked at her without saying a word and just put his jacket on her shoulders. She turned her head to look at him, and smiled lightly.

House put his arm around her and she leaned her head against his chest clutching in that embrace and trying to think only about the reassuring sound of his breathing.

They sat on the sand long, just listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach.

"What was _it_?" She asked, breaking the silence, but without looking at him, still looking at the ocean.

House looked at her.

"Lisa... don't..." he said as she look up to meet his eyes.

"Please..." she whispered "... I need to know..."

He looked at her again.

"A boy" he said.

She nodded and looked down, biting her lip and closing her eyes. She swallowed hard and breathed deeply, opening her eyes again and meeting his.

"Lisa..."

"Uhm ..." she whispered "... I'm fine..." she said running a hand on her forehead.

He continued to look at her and she met his gaze again.

"Say it!" He said, still staring at her.

"W-what?"

"That it's not your fault..."

She looked down and shook her head slightly with the hint of a bitter smile.

"I can't..." she said.

He took her chin and lifted her face looking into her eyes.

"It is not your fault" he said enunciating those five words.

She looked down again.

"Look at me!" He said firmly.

"I... I..." she stammered without looking up at him while a tear rolled down her cheek "... I can't..." she repeated.

He cupped her face and forced her to look at him.

"Yes, you can..." he repeated firmly "Look at me!"

She looked up, meeting the blue of his eyes. _Grace's eyes_. The same eyes that perhaps her son would have had.

"Oh... God..." she said, closing her eyes and pushing his hand away, covering her face with both her hands.

He held her and let her cry once again against his chest until he felt her sobs become slower. He continued to stroke her back and kissed her hair.

"It's not your fault" he said as he caressed her "We'll go even beyond this..." he added, kissing her hair again.

She look up at him.

"I just would... to be able of... forget..." she said looking into his eyes.

"We can't forget..." he said "... but we can go on... with our lives and our daughters..."

"I would have wanted..." she said, biting her lip "... to give you another kid..."

"We have Rachel... and Grace..." he said looking into her eyes "... they're our life..." he said stroking her cheek "... and... _you_ are my life... I don't want anything else, Lisa "

She nodded and touched his lips lightly.

"You're my life..." she whispered on his lips "... and... I don't want to lose you..."

"Hey" he said with a smile on her lips "... I love you too much to let you run away..." he said, looking for her lips.

He felt her open her mouth lightly, looking for his tongue. Almost shyly at the beginning, then, more deeply putting a hand behind his head. He continued to kiss her and made her lie down on the sand, lying beside her. And they continued to kiss, savoring every inch of their mouths. Not a kiss of overwhelming passion... a slow, deep kiss...

He broke the kiss and remained lying on his side resting his head on the palm of the hand and continuing to caress her face with the other hand.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked, looking into her eyes.

She bit her lip again.

"About..." she hesitated "... you're destined to be the only man in my life..." she said recalling the words that once he had told her.

He smiled slightly.

"It's the only thing I want" he said looking for her lips again.

...

* * *

"I've got sand everywhere" she said, sitting down on the bed and smiling slightly.

"Me too" he laughed "I really need a shower" he added, taking off his shirt and beginning to unbutton his pants.

He looked at her and reached out for her hand, making her to stand up.

"Come with me?" He asked "I'll be harmless, I promise" he added with a slightly mischievous look.

She smiled and shook her head slightly.

"Ok" she said.

His gaze caressed the features of her naked body as she joined him in the shower, and he put his hands on her hips.

"Please...don't look at me..." she whispered looking at him before looking down, still stroking his arms.

"You're too beautiful for me to be able avoiding to look at you" he said smiling, kissing the tip of her nose "I have never been able to avoid it..." he added, going down on her lips "... and if I well remember... you didn't dislike when I looked into your blouse instead of listening to Ericson's lesson... "

Cuddy smiled and moved closer to him, however backing away slightly to the feeling of his partial erection against her.

"But... you're not harmless" she said, looking at him but letting out a smile.

He looked down on his groin and then up at her again.

"I can't control it, you should know it by now" he laughed pulling her closer to him, again.

He wouldn't want to turn her on. Well... _yes... actually he would have wanted_... he would have wanted to push her against the wall and make love with her right there, letting just the sound of water covering her moans... _Yes, he would have wanted_... but it wasn't what he wanted at that right moment... He wanted to make her aware of how much his own body wanted her. He wanted her to be aware of how much beautiful she was for him and how much he loved the body that now she refused.

Cuddy smiled but didn't answer, however getting lost in the swirl of feelings that intimate hug gave her.

"Just a shower... don't get any naughty idea..." he said as the hot water ran over their bodies "... then I'll take you out for dinner..." he said nibbling at her lower lip and looking for her tongue.

Cuddy savored his touch, the feel of his hands on her wet skin as he continued to kiss her, as she stroked his shoulders and back in turn. She would have wanted more... God, _she_ would have wanted more... she would have wanted his body pressed against hers... she would have wanted to make love while the water ran on their bodies... she would have wanted be able to let herself go... She stroked his wet skin again savoring his caress, her face hidden against his chest. Why the hell her mind wasn't able to let itself go!

...

* * *

House looked at her as she got off the bike by herself.

"You're practicing, Cuddy" he said with a smile.

She laughed.

"I don't think so... and nor even my legs" she laughed, still feeling unstable on her feet. Her legs were trembling.

He hugged her and touched her lips lightly.

"It's like sex, Cuddy... you have to let yourself go... to the feeling that it gives you between your legs!" he added with a mischievous look.

She laughed.

"Ah... that's perfect!" She said, shaking her head.

He took her hand as they enter the restaurant. A small Mexican restaurant. She looked at him.

"How did you know about this place?" she asked, looking around.

"I had already thought to bring you here... when I gave you _those_ " he said, pointing to her boots "It's the same owner... he has a small chain of restaurants now..." he added, anticipating her question.

That restaurant was the copy of the restaurant where once she had had dinner with him... in Michigan.

That evening they had met by chance. Her car had broken down on her and he had offered her a ride. He was going out for dinner with some friends and had proposed her to join them. They had had dinner at that restaurant... a dozen guys and girls, and then they had ended the night laughing and joking sitting on the grass of a nearby park.

That one had been the night in which they had played an innocent _truth or dare_. And that kiss... in a sense, their first kiss .. had been one of Cuddy's dare.

 _A real kiss, Lisa Cuddy! One of House's friends had yelled her as she had barely touched his lips._

She had looked at House and had seen him smile. She didn't evade provocations... ever... and she had lightly touched his tongue with hers. She hadn't expected him to kiss her back... _but he did_... he had put a hand in her hair and held her while his tongue deeply and slowly stroked hers... she had broken that kiss, looking into his eyes and trying not to look uncomfortable... but she had literally lost herself in that kiss...

Nothing else had happened that night... he had just given her a ride to her dorm and greeted her on at door... but that one was the night in which she had understood to feel something for him ...

 _...and he knew it..._

"You never stop to amaze me, don't you?" She said resting her chin on the palm of her hand looking at him straight in the eyes.

"I hope so..." he said, as the waitress put their plates on the table.

...

* * *

"Do you know what?" he said as he dipped the last _nacho_ in the sauce and approached it to her mouth.

"Mmmhhh...?" she said with a laugh as she opened her mouth and took the nacho from his fingers "... what?"

"That night, on your dorm door... I'd have wanted to kiss you"

She looked at him.

"Really?" She said, not hiding the surprise in her voice "... why didn't you do that?" She said smiling.

House smiled and licked his lips.

"Did you want to be kissed?" he asked with a mischievous look.

She laughed and shook her head.

"God... yes..." she replied laughing.

He looked at her still smiling.

"I didn't kiss you... because I knew I wouldn't be able to stop myself then..." he said.

She smiled.

"Maybe... I wouldn't have asked you to stop..." she said with a mischievous look.

House laughed.

"I thought you were a _good_ girl" he laughed, shaking his head and teasing her.

"Yeah... I thought so too" she laughed "..but you destroy all my certainties, House" she laughed again.

He continued to look at her.

"You're beautiful when you laugh" he said.

She didn't answer but just smiled slightly biting her lip.

"However Cuddy... I better not tell you what I did that night... without you... but thinking about you..." he laughed, changing the subject.

She looked at him.

"At this point... I think I can guess" she said laughing "... even because... I did the same..." she laughed running her tongue over her lips.

...

* * *

"Thank you for this evening" she said, kissing him lightly on the lips.

He wrapped her waist with his hands and pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss.

"It was a game, but... I didn't think you would have responded to my kiss that night..." she said on his lips.

"I always wanted to kiss you..." he replied looking for her lips again as she smiled.

He looked into her eyes as he slipped off her shirt and she did the same with his, letting it drop on the floor with hers.

He stroked her skin moving from her shoulders to her back, kissing her neck at the same time. He slid his hands down, lightly touching her belly as he looked for the button of her jeans and then looked at her in the eyes again.

He laid her down on the bed and watched her, lying near her as the night before. Near her... not _on top of her_...

He stroked her arm from the hand to the shoulder, and went down on her breast, then stroking her side and her _belly._

He saw her close her eyes to that contact, but didn't moved his own hand, letting his palm linger a moment on her abdomen before brushing her navel and move down to the elastic band of her panties. He peeled them off slowly and she opened her eyes. He stroked her foot and leg going up to her thigh, and even on her hip, leaning over her to kiss her again on the lips.

"Relax... I won't do anything you don't want..." he whispered on her mouth caressing her neck and shoulder and then moving his hand down along her arm intertwining his fingers with hers "You just have to... let yourself go... "he said, brushing his lips not leaving her hand " ... close your eyes... and think just about the sensations you feel... " he said, brushing her tongue and stroking her hand with his thumb .

He could understand what she wanted and what she didn't want just from the reactions her body gave him.

She touched his tongue inviting him to kiss her again and he looked for her mouth more deeply, slowly moving his tongue into her mouth in perfect accord with hers.

He moved his mouth on her neck and felt her tilt her head back more, to let him kiss her even more. He continued to kiss her and sucked the skin behind her ear making her moan. A slight but long moan. Not _discomfort_. _Pleasure_. Only one moan, sufficient to awake in him every instinct.

He felt her stroke his arm and moved on top of her as she opened her legs and clung them around him.

The feeling of her body beneath him sent him shivers down his spine. She could clearly feel his erection pressing between her legs.

He bent down to kiss her breasts and felt her arch her back pushing more of her nipple in his mouth.

He felt her begin to move slowly beneath him, unable to contain the movement of her pelvis while she could feel his erection rubbing against her as he kissed her.

She opened her eyes and met his gaze as she put a hand behind his neck drawing him to herself to kiss him.

He felt her move again under him. A little thrust would be enough to penetrate her, but he hesitated...

And she sensed his hesitation.

"Love me, Greg... it's everything I want" she whispered on his mouth, squeezing his hand slightly "I want to feel you're mine..." she added, looking for his tongue again.

He looked at her as he entered her slowly... and she didn't look away as he felt him getting inside her... Slowly and gently, without leaving her hand...

Cuddy couldn't help but moan, and closed her eyes clinging more to him.

"I love you..." he whispered on her mouth, kissing her, still moving slowly in and out of her.

He continued to move inside her, increasing the pace as she moaned under him and those moans became more pressing.

God... how much he had missed those moans... he had not missed sex... he had missed _her_...

He didn't slow the pace as she moved with him and felt her hold her breath.

She opened her eyes and met his gaze.

"Look at me, Lisa..." he whispered looking into her eyes and pushing again inside her "let yourself go, _my love_..."

She looked at him, getting lost in the blue of his eyes. _My love_. Even after two years that two words shook her soul every time they went out from his lips. She could handle his look... she could handle those words... but she couldn't handle them both... not as he continued inexorably to thrust inside her in the sweetest and most sensual way... Those words rang in her head and it was as if he had pressed the button on a detonator... All the sensations of her body got lost in the blue of his eyes and in the sound of those words... she closed her eyes as the waves of pleasure overwhelmed her and she dug her nails in his back, hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

"Oh God... Lisa... yes..." he groaned hearing her moaning and calling his name against his neck as those moans sent him at the height of pleasure too.

He collapsed on her hiding in turn his face on her chest, while she stroked his nape.

He lifted his head to kiss her and met her eyes. The fingers of his right hand were still intertwined with those of her left her as he continued to caress her with his thumb.

"Welcome back..." he whispered with a smile on her lips as she smiled in turn, biting her lip.

"I love you..." she said, looking again for his mouth in a long kiss.


	14. Thunder Road-trip - Part 3

_Thanks again to everyone who added_ Mothers _and_ Kids _to their alert or favorite stories. And thank you for your reviews! You really can't imagine how much they support me on going on... because... yes... sometimes I'm on the coach just watching TV and I can't help but thinking "Hey, you promised to Chloe, Calianabergman, Jkarr and all your anonymous readers a quick update! So... Get your ass off from here and go do your_ writing duty _!" ;)_

 _Ok, stop annoying you with my thoughts and... just enjoy!_

* * *

...

 **CHAPTER 14 - Thunder Road-trip - Part 3**

...

* * *

House opened his eyes and reached for her... finding only an empty bed... again. He lazy opened his eyes as he tried to get used to the light in the room and ran a hand over his face, looking around. He could feel the fresh air entering through the open French door.

He got up, putting on just his boxers and went to the balcony. She was there, wrapped in a blanket, looking at the empty beach and at the ocean that reflected the dark and cloudy sky. It had rained during the night and the air still smelled of rain.

"Hey" he said approaching and hugging her "Good morning..." he kissed her neck and clung to her.

She turned her head and smiled, wrapping him in the blanket with her.

"Good morning..." she said, kissing him lightly on the lips.

"Can't sleep again?" He asked, looking into her eyes.

"It will pass..." she replied smiling slightly.

He touched her lips and stroked her hips.

"Hungry?" He asked resting his forehead on hers "I can order breakfast..."

"Er..." She said touching his lips and biting his lower lip "... not that kind of hungry..." she added, looking for his tongue, just brushing it lightly.

House smiled and held her tighter as he leaded her back into the room, closing the French-window.

He dropped the blanket to the ground and met her gaze.

"I love that look" he said looking into her eyes with a mischievous look "What do you want, Lisa?" He asked.

"You" she replied, gently pushing him on the bed as he took her arm pulling her with him and on top of him.

She just looked at him for a moment as he looked back at her, then she eagerly sought his mouth.

House stroked her back moving his hands from her shoulders to her lower back and then up again on her shoulders as she moved slightly on top of him continuing to kiss him.

She moved down to kiss his neck and then again his chin, jaw and mouth searching his eyes again.

She needed to look into his eyes. For two months she hadn't been able to look into those eyes... now she needed to see herself mirrored in those eyes... she needed to see in his eyes how much he loved her and how much he wanted her... she needed to get completely lost in those eyes...

"I love you, Greg" she whispered on his lips as she kissed him and he held her tighter in his arms.

She looked into his eyes as she peeled his boxers off, touching him with her hand. He closed his eyes just a few seconds savoring that arousing massage, but opening them to look at her again.

He took her arm, making her sit down again on top of him, straddling him, and put his hands through her hair as he kissed her. She shifted her pelvis slightly letting him slide slowly inside her and heard a groan escape from his lips and get lost in her mouth as their tongues continued to caress and he felt the warmth of her body wrapping him completely.

"Christ! I missed you so much..." he groaned on her mouth seeking it with greater passion as she moved slowly along his length savoring every inch of him.

"Oh God... me too" she smiled increasing the pace, but still looking at him.

He caressed her back again, however stopping his hands on her buttocks as she still moved on him, her hands resting on his chest.

He heard her breathing become more labored and her moans more pressing while she let herself go to the sensations he gave her, and he looked into her eyes again as her legs began to tremble.

"God, Lisa... yes..." he whispered, looking into her eyes and moving his hands into her hair as he recognized that flash in her eyes before she let herself go to an intense orgasm.

House continued to move following her pace and trapping her moans into his mouth as he kissed her.

He looked into her eyes again as he rolled her on the bed, making her lie down on her back, still staying inside her.

He stroked her leg and thigh continuing to look into her eyes as he thrust inside her and she wrapped her legs around his waist to be penetrated even more deeply.

She saw House closing his eyes to that intense feeling and she couldn't suppress a loud moan as she could feel him inside her completely.

"Oh my God..." she moaned as he thrust inside her hitting that point that every time drove her crazy "... Oh God..." she repeated "... oh please... don't stop..." she moaned "... God... my love... don't stop... " she moaned again as her legs began to tremble again.

She heard his groan as he looked for her mouth and he came inside her sharing with her that intense orgasm.

They held each other for a long while she could hear his labored breathing against her neck getting slow and she stroked his back and shoulders with her fingers.

House lifted his head to look at her and kissed her on the lips before rolling to her side, stroking her face and again looking for her mouth. He stroked her body with his hand, moving down from her breast to her navel and then touching her belly, looking into her eyes. She bit her lip imperceptibly, but let his fingers touch her there, before going down on her hip.

"You definitely need to have breakfast" he said, brushing her with his fingers and lingering on the bones of her pelvis, highlighted by the weight loss.

She didn't answer but stroked his stubble.

"Thank you..." she said "... for all this... and... for not having left me alone in these months..." she added, looking into his eyes.

"I haven't done anything ..." he replied "I wish I could do something..."

"It's not true, Greg..." she said, stroking his stubble again "... when you hugged me during night, in our bed, thinking I was asleep... I... I wish I was...er... able to cling to you, in your arms... but... I couldn't ... " she hesitated, biting her lip "... I... I just wanted to close my eyes and... disappear... "

"I wouldn't have allowed it..." he answered in a serious tone, looking into her eyes.

She smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"It's just that..." she said looking away for a moment "... if I were younger... maybe it wouldn't have happened..."

"You can't know it, Lisa"

She nodded.

"When I was pregnant with Grace... I took painkillers and alcohol, not knowing about the pregnancy, and even during pregnancy... I often was irresponsible and reckless, endangering our daughter... but this time... this time I... I did everything I had to do... I scrupulously followed every recommendation ... every prescription ... and despite all I... I... " she hesitated, not finishing that sentence and avoiding his gaze.

House looked at her and lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"Say it!" He said.

She looked at him, biting her lip.

"Finish that sentence, Lisa!"

"I don't..."

"Hey..." he said looking into her eyes "... there was nothing you could do to change things, Lisa... neither you nor I... and we both know it... I want to hear you finishing that sentence... "

She looked at him again and swallowed hard, closing her eyes briefly and taking a deep breath.

"I... I lost my baby..." she whispered, feeling tears misting her eyes.

He wiped away her tears with his thumb and saw her lip tremble. He drew her to himself, stroking her back and holding her in his arms.

"I'm here..." he whispered holding her tighter "It will pass... I promise..." he added, kissing her head.

...

* * *

" _My boss_ won't be pleased when I skip work for one month because of pneumonia " he laughed as they walked barefoot on the beach.

Cuddy took his hand, holding it as they walked side by side.

"She won't notice it! She'll be committed to treat her own pneumonia" she laughed wrapping herself tighter into her jacket.

House stopped and pulled her to himself, putting his arms around her waist. He moved from her face the hair that the wind sent on her face and looked for her mouth.

"We better go back before it starts raining" he said, warming her back with both hands.

She nodded, looking for his lips again for a tender kiss.

...

* * *

"Hurry up!" She shouted laughing, pulling him by the arm as the rain began to drop.

House laughed.

"You can run. Leave me here!" He said, looking at her as she laughed.

"No way!" She laughed again, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him, letting the raindrops roll on her face, merging with that kiss.

He put his hand through her wet hair and kissed her again before breaking away from that kiss looking into her eyes. That was _the Lisa_ he met in Michigan. Twenty years later she was the same _Lisa_ , but she rarely indulged in moments like that.

"Come on..." he laughed pulling her by the arm.

They went back to the hotel, soaking wet, and met Peter's gaze at the reception as they entered the elevator, still laughing. He smiled and greeted them with a nod of his head, watching that scene. The day before she had left a note for her husband... but they looked more like a couple of passionate lovers, he thought.

House looked at her as he closed the room door and she took off her jacket. Her hair was soaking wet and drops fell on the floor.

He hugged her and felt her shiver.

"God, you're frozen" he said warming her shoulders "Take these clothes off " he said with a smile "Or I'll really have to treat your pneumonia, Cuddy"

He took off his jacket and shirt and began to unbutton his pants continuing to look at her and... he saw a flash in her eyes.

"Do it for me" She replied looking at him straight in the eyes and running her tongue on her lips.

He took off his pants and smiled, approaching her and taking off her shirt, looking into her eyes before doing the same with her jeans.

He unhooked her bra and put his hand in the elastic band of her panties.

"You can keep them on, Cuddy" he said with a mischievous look "They're not wet" he added, touching her butt and biting her lip.

"Wanna bet, House ?" She said on his lips unable to suppress a smile as she moved his hand in her panties and between her legs, making him aware of how much turned on she already was.

She put her arms around his neck just staring at him.

"So... my wife wants to be _warmed_?" he asked with a mischievous look slightly biting her lip.

She smiled, brushing his tongue.

" _You_ said I'm frozen..." she replied clutching closer to him.

He looked into her eyes as he moved his fingers between her legs.

"God... Greg ..." she moaned, hiding her face on his chest.

He could feel her legs begin to tremble as his hand drove her crazy, and he felt her start as he pushed two fingers inside her.

He heard her moan against his chest while a labored _no_ escaped from her lips.

" _No?_ " He laughed, don't stopping his hand. He felt her lean more on him while her legs trembled more.

"Greg... oh God... please... _stop_ " she whispered as she struggled to stand up and her legs almost gave away.

He didn't slow the pace of his fingers and lifted her face with the other hand, looking into her eyes.

" _Stop?_ " He asked mischievously suddenly stopping his hand.

She bit her lip and smiled while continuing to lean on him.

"God... my love... I... I can't stand..." she whispered breathlessly, and he dropped her panties to the floor before leading her into the bathroom, pushing her back against the wall of the shower, opening the tap and letting the hot water flow over their bodies.

He kissed her on the mouth going back to his ministration on her .

"Oh God... yes..." she groaned as he thrust his fingers inside her again.

House smiled.

"It's no longer a _no_ , Cuddy?" he asked on her lips not slowing the pace.

She didn't answer but inhaled sharply and looked for his mouth again while his fingers sent her to the height of pleasure.

House looked at her as she opened her eyes and pushed her harder against the wall, lifting her leg and wrapping it around his waist before penetrate her. She tilted her head back at the intense pleasure of herself filled by him.

He kissed her neck as he thrust inside her again and went down to kiss her breasts. He loved the feel of her wet skin and looked again for her mouth feeling his limit so close. He continued to kiss her as he came, muffling his own moans in her mouth.

They stayed embraced, continuing to caress each other and savoring the sensation of the hot water over them.

...

* * *

"Are you still cold?" He asked, stroking her shoulders through the bathrobe.

"I've never been better, my love" she replied putting her arms around his waist and kissing him lightly on the lips.

House's cell rang and she looked at him as he took the call.

"Hello" he said into the receiver "Yes, everything's right... she's... she's better..." he said, looking at Cuddy, still listening to the voice on the other end of the phone "Yes, of course..." he added.

He looked at her and handed her the phone.

"Yours" he said as she took the phone from his hand with a questioning look, sitting down on the bed.

A smile played on her lips as soon as she recognized the voice on the other end of the receiver.

"Hello, sweety" she said, smiling but biting her lip as she listened to Rachel's voice telling her what she had done with Grandma Blythe and asked her to come back home soon "Yes, sweetheart... I'll be back soon, I promise. Love you."

He watched her as she bit her lip again and another smile appeared on her lips as she could hear Blythe's voice in the background saying _"Say hi to Mommy, Grace"_ and her daughter repeating just a _"ma-ma"_. She could easily picture her as she listened to the voice in the phone, _waving a hello_ with her tiny hand as if she could see her... and smiled, feeling a lump in her throat...

"She waves you _hello_ , Lisa" Blythe said laughing.

"Thank you, Blythe. Please, give her a kiss for me and... tell her I'll be home soon" she said.

"Don't worry, darling... just think to be fine... they're fine... ok?"

Cuddy nodded and bit her lip more, unable to answer with something more that the _ok_ that slip from her lips, while House took the phone from her hand and greeted his mother.

He looked at her as he closed the call.

"Hey... are you ok?" He asked looking at her weary eyes and putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Yes" she replied smiling slightly "... I miss them..." she said clinging to him.

House kissed her temple.

"Let's go home?" He asked.

Cuddy nodded and looked at House as he stood up and approached the window.

"It's pouring" he said, looking out and smiling slightly.

She reached out to him and made him lie down beside her clutching closer to him.

"I think I can spend another night just with the only man in my life..." she said, smiling, stroking his stubble.

House smiled.

"I can't say the same" he said looking for her lips "You're destined to share me with two other women for life, Cuddy" he said laughing.

She nodded and laughed.

"Yeah" she replied, lightly touching his tongue with hers "I think I can bear it" she added, looking more for his mouth in a long kiss.


	15. Just a name

_Here I am! I'm trying to be quick in translation but I think I'm hopeless... Every time I read it a thousand times before press "publish" just to find out a lot of mistakes after publication... sorry... I'm really doing my best..._

 _Thanks to the new followers for their reviews! And a big thank you to the "old" followers for still being there!_

 _By the way..._ _ENJOY! ...just a few tears allowed! ;)_

* * *

...

 **CHAPTER 15 - Just a name**

 **...**

* * *

Cuddy woke embraced to House, but didn't open her eyes and just clung closer to him, feeling the warmth of his body and the sense of protection that his arm, tight around her, gave her. She had missed his touch in the last few months... not sex, not just that physical contact... she had missed his scent... she had missed that warmth .. she had missed _him_...

House kissed her hair and she lifted her face to look at him.

"Were you awake?" She asked him with the hint of a smile.

"I watched you sleep" he replied gently kissing her lips.

"I didn't sleep so well for too long..." she said clutching him again, and resting her head on his chest.

House continued to stroke her arm.

"We can leave whenever you want..." he said, kissing her hair again.

She nodded but didn't answer and clung even closer to him.

"What's up?" He asked taking her face with one hand and looking into her eyes.

"There's... there's something I have to do before going home" she replied, biting her lip.

...

* * *

Cuddy got off the bike and looked at House as he take off his helmet.

"I... need to do this by myself..." she said looking into his eyes.

He looked at her and just nodded.

He stayed there for a while watching her as she walked down the walkway, then left the bike in the parking lot in front of the cemetery and followed her.

She hadn't grieved that loss yet... and he knew it.

It was a fetus... just a fetus... _a fetus is not a baby..._ that one had been one of his certainties for years... yes... for years ... until Grace had kicked in her mother's womb and against his hand... that feeling had shaken his certainty like an earthquake... a tiny human being, still unable of own life, had destabilized and broken his certainty and he had had to surrender to human nature...

He watched her from afar... Standing... twirling in her fingers the small silver sphere she had added to the charms of her bracelet... her eyes fixed on that name etched in the stone...but without tears...

That name was the only thing left of him.

...

* * *

 _3 months earlier_

...

* * *

 _Cuddy was standing in front of the fireplace and looked at the fire, twirling between her fingers the little silver sphere of her necklace._

 _"What is it?" House asked embracing her from behind and touching with a hand that pendant before moving his hand to caress her breasts through the fabric of her undergarment._

 _Cuddy smiled as soon as she felt his other hand caressing her side and untie her robe, then lifting her slip and looking for her skin. She savored the feeling of his hand caressing the slight roundness of her belly._

 _"It's a Mexican bola ... a gift by Marina" She said, smiling more and tilting her head back as he teased the elastic band of her panties with one hand and rattled the pendant with the other._

 _He slipped the robe from her shoulders dropping it to the ground._

 _"If_ this ' angels caller' _works, Lisa, tell them to cover their eyes" he said smiling mischievously while sucking behind her ear and simultaneously pushing his hand between her legs making her moan._

 _She turned and put her arms around his neck as she let him undress her and she sought his lips and tongue._

 _They didn't stop kissing as he made her lie down on the carpet in front of the fireplace stroking her belly, and she spread her legs pulling him on top of her._

 _She smiled as his weight trapped her against the floor, preventing her from moving...she didn't feel dominated... she felt protected... and continued to stroke his shoulders and back as she abandoned herself to the feeling of his tongue caressing hers._

 _She closed her eyes as he slowly but deeply penetrated her, making her savor every inch of him._

 _"God, Greg... I love you..." she whispered in his mouth as he moved inside her. Slow and deep thrusts that left her almost breathless every time. Every time she felt him moving almost completely out of her and then filling her slowly and deeply again, completely merging with her body in a perfect deal._

 _House didn't answer but lifted his head and smiled as he kissed her again. The feeling of being one thing with her drove him crazy and he wanted to prolong that pleasure ad infinitum. He heard her moaning with every thrust and her moans mingled with his, with the crackling of the fire in the fireplace and the light tinkling of that pendant._

 _"God... you're so beautiful..." he whispered on her mouth as he met her gaze and looked at her as she arched her back emphasizing her breasts and pushing her pelvis toward him even more._

 _She smiled lightly not averting her eyes from his and she could not avoid tilting her head back exposing more of her neck and letting go to the pleasure he was giving her._

 _A moan escaped her lips ashe rolled pulling her on top of him. He moved her hair as he took her face in his hands and looked for her mouth while she moved on him at the same pace of his tongue in her mouth._

 _That feeling drove her crazy and her breathing becomes labored as she speeded the pace of her thrusts and felt her legs begin to tremble._

 _"Oh my God, Greg ..." she moaned deeply on his lips "... oh God, Greg..." she moaned as she couldn't help but repeating his name among her moans._

 _House didn't stop his tongue in her mouth when he heard her hold her breath, forcing her to moan into his mouth. Her tongue paused only for a moment while her orgasm overwhelmed her, before looking for him again with growing passion as she indulged in those waves of pleasure, sending him over the edge too._

 _She clung to him, trying to regain control over her own breathing and kissed his neck, then looking again for his mouth._

 _"I love you" he whispered on her lips as he covered her with the blanket that was on the floor and stroked her back._

 _She smiled._

 _"I love you..." she whispered on his._

 _They stayed embraced under the blanket while the fire danced in the fireplace, faintly illuminating the room with its orange glow._

 _"There was a time in which I hated to hear the sound of my name" he said, laughing, stroking her arm._

 _She laughed._

 _"I love your name" she laughed kissing him again._

 _"For sure I can't forget who I am while we make love" he laughed giving her a little spanking on the buttocks._

 _"What an idiot!" She laughed again, biting his lip "... I don't know why..." she laughed, shaking her head slightly "... but I can't help it..."_

 _"I like it" he said with a smile on her lips, brushing her tongue "... but when you accidently call another name during an orgasm, I'll know I need to worry, Lisa!" he laughed._

 _"Oh yes, of course!" She replied, laughing in turn and shaking her head slightly as he trapped her mouth in another kiss._

 _They stood a few moments in silence, just looking into each other eyes without speaking, each one lying on their side next to each other under the blanket. She stroked his arm, he caressed her hip._

 _"You sure about not wanting to know its sex?" He asked moving his hand to stroke her belly._

 _Cuddy smiled._

 _"Yes..." she said "I don't care if it's a boy or a girl..."_

 _"Ok" he said "But then I choose the name..." he said, raising an eyebrow._

 _She let out a laugh._

 _"Oh God" she laughed "Let's hear..." she said looking into his eyes._

 _"Pamela, if it's a girl" he said failing to hold back a laugh._

 _"As Pamela Anderson?" She asked with a serious look looking into his eyes "No way!" She added, shaking her head._

 _"Why? Because her boobs are bigger than yours?" he laughed._

 _"Exactly. I repeat. No way!" She repeated, letting out a laugh._

 _"Ok! Angelina?" He asked, raising an eyebrow._

 _"Oh God!" She laughed "No! ... And why should it be a girl? Choose a male name " she said laughing._

 _"Lopez" he said, looking into her eyes._

 _"What kind of name is 'Lopez'?" She said._

 _"Jennifer is a female name" he said laughing "... and... her ass is bigger than yours..." he added, giving her a spanking on the buttocks._

 _"How stupid!" She laughed, looking for his lip._

 _He stroked her belly again and looked away for a moment._

 _"You don't want to know its sex ... so better choose a name that fit for both a boy or a girl..." he said in a serious tone "Jess?"_

 _Cuddy looked into his eyes and smiled._

 _"Or... Alex... Avery... Cameron..." he added, raising an eyebrow._

 _"Cameron... definitely not" she laughed, shaking her head._

 _House laughed._

 _"What's wrong with 'Cameron'? He asked, raising an eyebrow._

 _She didn't answer but raised an eyebrow in turn, holding his gaze._

 _He loved to tease her. And she loved him teasing her._

 _"Ok, Cuddy! But let's discard even 'Chase' then" he said, laughing._

 _"But I never kissed Chase" she said, holding his gaze but letting out a laugh._

 _"But he wanted to kiss you" he replied staring at her and running his tongue on his lips "And obviously for 'kiss' I mean 'fuc...'" he added, laughing._

 _"It's not true!" She said, not letting him finish that word and laughing in turn..._

 _"Of course it's true! All the men in your hospital have thought at least once about fucking you, Dr. Cuddy" he laughed again "I thought you knew your employees better!" He laughed "Too bad for them... because you're only mine!" He said, looking for her lips and tongue._

 _Cuddy smiled as she broke away from his lips and clung to him. She loved when he said that '... you're only mine...'_

 _"Jess ... I like it..." she said on his lips looking into his eyes and listening to the sound of that name "Jess House" she repeated "... I like it..." she said, smiling "... I really like it... " she said, looking for his lips again._

 _..._

* * *

 _Jess_

That name was the only thing left of him.

He approached and hugged her from behind putting his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her head _._

"Are you ok?" He asked holding her a little tighter in his arms.

Cuddy didn't answer, but nodded.

"You're right... _everybody lies_..." she said, turning to look into his eyes for a moment before looking back at that name ... that name who for months she could not even pronounce...

"I want to move on... but... I _don't want_ to forget him..." she said "I loved him since the first day... in the same way I love Rachel and Grace... and... for me... he was alive... inside me he was... "she felt tears misting her eyes but her voice didn't crack...

"... I didn't even see him ..." she continued "I know you wanted to protect me... but ... I see him anyway... every day... I see that black and white picture... I see his tiny hands... and feet... and heart ... and just... I can't... I can't forget... and... I don't want... "she said as one of the tears that had lingered in her eyes rolled now down her cheek.

"He will always be part of me..." she whispered, closing her eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath "... _Jess_ will always be part of me..." she repeated.

That name pronounced in a loud voice rang in her head and she felt a sense of liberation as she said it, freeing with that weight even the tears that just waiting to fall...

House held her closer and kissed her head again, inhaling her scent.

"Of _us_ , Lisa..." he whispered in her hair " _Jess_ will always be part _of us_ "


	16. Asanas

_Hello everyone! Here I am again. What can I say? Power of reviews! Yesterday I read_ _CrazyBeast98_ _'s review and I said... oh... how much time has passed since my last update? So... here I am... waiting for dinner being ready and... posting a new chapter ;) Enjoy! (Rachel and Grace are coming soon in the next chapter... here... well... a bit of Huddy passion ;)_

* * *

 **...**

 **Chapter 16 - Asanas**

 **...**

* * *

House woke alone in the bed, again, and looked at the clock on the bedside table. Almost 6 a.m. A month had passed from their escape on the beach and Cuddy seemed to feel better. She still thought about that night... but she was definitely better... and their life was back to what it was before.

 _Almost_... what it was before.

If it had been just a morning of a few months before House would have simply looked at the clock and sunk into the pillow, going back to sleep. But... he couldn't help but feel a knot in the stomach every time he found an empty bed beside himself. Actually he didn't think that she could make some reckless gesture... or at least, _not anymore_... but yet he wasn't calm enough to afford to avoid going to check...

He got up barefoot and exited the room.

He was wearing only his pajama pants but he didn't bother to put on a shirt. He opened the girl's bedroom door quietly and watched them as they slept. He stroked Rachel's dark and straight hair and then Grace's lighter and wavy ones before leaving the room.

Cuddy was where he expected her to be.

In their living room ... focused on one of her yoga sequences. She had started to practice it again regularly every morning... and it was definitely a good sign. She had regained her balance and, taking back control over her body and mind, she was taking back control over her life.

He watched her from a distance for a while... her muscles stretched and contracted during each position of that sequence ... her eyes were focused, but the features of her face were relaxed as it was her mind...

He kept to look at her as she sat down leaning her back on the mat. She raised her legs and buttocks gradually off the ground keeping her back and legs straight as her toes touched the floor behind her head.

"I know you're there" she said, smiling, remaining in that position "And... as you can see... I'm not suicide."

House smiled, biting his lip, and shook his head slightly as he approached her. They had never talked about that... but she knew him better than he thought.

"God, Lisa..." he exclaimed letting out a laugh "... tell me how you don't break your back in that position?" he laughed again.

She smiled.

"In _Halasana_ " she replied.

" _Hala_... what?" he asked " _Sanskrit_ is one of the few languages I don't speak, Cuddy" he added, laughing.

" _Halasana_ " she laughed "... it's the name of this position..." she let out another laugh "In _halasana_ I don't break my back... in _karnapidasana_ ... I'm not so sure..." she said, laughing as she brought her knees down parallel to her ears.

"God ..." he laughed "... This explains a lot of things" he laughed again as she put herself in a sitting position stretching out her arm towards him.

He took her hand and she stood up putting her arms around his neck as he wrapped her waist.

"What it explains?" she asked on his lips.

"Your incredible _flexibility_... in another kind of... _positions_ " he said with a mischievous look biting her lip.

She laughed and looked for his lips.

"You're incredibly sexy during yoga..." he whispered again on her mouth before looking for her tongue.

Cuddy stroked his back as he kissed her and clung closer to him.

"I know a position that is both in my and your _vocabulary_ , Cuddy" he said in a very nasty tone before whispering a word in her ear.

She laughed and shook her head slightly looking for his lips again.

"S _vanasana_ is not _that_ position, _House!_ " She laughed.

"But the translation is the same" he laughed looking for her tongue again "... and for sure my _dog position_ is more interesting than yours" he laughed again biting her lip "Wanna bet?" he asked mischievously.

Cuddy looked at him as she broke away from his lips, and smiled. An equally mischievous smile.

"Yes" she replied putting her hand into the band of his pajamas pants and looking for his erection.

She looked into his eyes as she rubbed him with her hand and he slipped his hand in her yoga pants doing the same with her and looking for her mouth at the same time.

She looked at him as she broke away from his lips positioning herself, standing on her yoga mat.

"So, House..." she said with a mischievous look running her tongue on her lips "... this is mine..."

" _Adho mukha svanasana_ or _downward-facing dog pose_ " she said lightly spreading out her legs and bending down with straight back touching the floor with her hands and head.

And... _Urdhva mukha svanasana_ or _upward-facing dog_ pose" she said closing her legs and touching the floor with her belly before lifting her chest supporting herself on her arms, lightly arching back her back and neck.

House smiled.

"Definitely very sex ..." he said running his tongue over his lips and kneeling next to her, stroking her back and buttocks. "... But I prefer... _this one_..." he said putting his arm around her waist lifting her back and pelvis from the floor, leaving her with just her knees and elbows on the floor "... and even more in the _naked_ version, Cuddy" he added, peeling off her pants and panties in a single gesture. She turned her head to look at him and took off her shirt, remaining completely naked. And she slightly bit her lip in anticipation as he took off his pants stroking her face and then her neck.

"God ..." she whispered as he stroked again her bare back, moving his hand on her breast as he knelt behind her. She liked being called _Cuddy_ by him as much as _Lisa_. There wasn't any rule. Sometimes _Lisa_. Sometimes _Cuddy_. But generally he called her _Lisa_ when he was very emotionally and sentimentally involved. He called her _Cuddy_ when he played with her, and teased her and joked. In recent months he had been more committed to comfort and soothe her wounds than to tease her, and she had been less and less often _Cuddy_ ...

"Do you feel it?" He whispered in her ear as he made her aware of his erection pressing against the entrance of her vagina.

She didn't answer but just smiled and let out a _mmmhhh_... She couldn't say if she was more turned on by the thought of what he was going to do to her, or by the way he was talking to her...

"And now, Cuddy... do you feel it?" He asked again in an extremely aroused tone as he penetrated her deeply.

He heard her moaning as she arched her head back to that intense feeling, and he couldn't resist the urge to wrap an arm around her, moving then on her face the hand that was on her breast, bending down to kiss her neck at the same time.

"God... Lisa..." he groaned against her neck to the feeling of being completely inside her.

It was never just a game between them... it was never just sex... he could never avoid kissing her during their lovemaking...

He felt her move with him, following his pace, as he thrust into her.

"God... Greg... don't stop..." he heard her moaning while he kissed her neck again.

He looked for her mouth anticipating her orgasm. He knew that the extremely deep penetration of that position sent her whenever rapidly over the edge... and heard her moaning into his mouth as she came, then looking for his tongue again.

He allowed her to move along his length, moving her pelvis back and forth and sending him quickly over the edge in turn.

"God, I love you..." he groaned as he slumped over her and she slumped to the floor in turn, allowing him to stay flat on her back.

House rolled beside her to avoid to crush her and lay down on the floor, however, pulling her to himself and kissing her and she kissed him deeply on the mouth stroking his chest.

"Your _doggy style_ is definitely better than mine" she said with a smile on his lips.

House smiled.

"The next time you want to do an alternative _Sun Salutation_ , Lisa... wake me up!" He laughed on her lips.

She smiled and kissed him again.

"Of course... _Sunshine_ " She replied clinging in his arms and kissing him again.

...

* * *

"Lisa, may we talk, please?" Wilson asked, approaching her as she opened the door of her office.

"Sure, James" she said coming in and taking off her jacket hanging it to the coat rack by the door "What's going on?"

Obviously something must have happened. Like House... at work Wilson used to call her _Cuddy_... almost always. Except when he wanted to talk about something very personal or needed a favor... although, after what had happened he called her _Lisa_ more often ... He was a good friend. She knew that he did it to make her feel that he care about her, but he seemed to walk on tiptoe around her... and it was something that bothered her more than comforting her. She was tired of being treated as if she was made of crystal, risking to break into a million pieces at any moment. Not by everyone, but certainly by him. And by House.

"Have you been in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit recently?" He asked, looking into her eyes.

"Er... no" she replied with a questioning look "Why?"

"There's a case I want to talk with you about" he said hesitantly looking into her eyes "... I oversaw it while you were..."

Cuddy looked at him seriously and licked her lips as Wilson didn't finish that sentence.

"You can say it, James..." she said firmly, "... while I was at home... after losing my kid..." she said finishing the sentence in his place, looking into his eyes and biting her lip lightly.

Wilson nodded.

"Sorry..." he said

Cuddy smiles slightly.

"You don't have to apologize... I'm fine... I really am..." she said "... I don't need that you both continue to protect me..." she added, referring to him and House.

"Ok" he said, looking at her as she sat down behind her desk and he sat down in front of her "It's a baby girl, nearly three months old. She was born premature at thirty-fourth week of pregnancy. She's in custody of Social Services after her mother abandoned her here just after delivery. She's in NICU since birth because of a cardiac defect... "

"Why none told me about her before?" She asked, looking into his eyes.

"Because... even if you're the boss, after what you've been through, I thought you couldn't handle the case of a ill premature baby, Lisa" He replied holding her gaze.

She nodded, slightly biting her lip.

"Yes..." she said with a sigh "Sorry... go on..." she said, gesturing him to continue.

"So... her condition is getting worse... she absolutely need surgery" he said "... according to Teddy she could do it here... but without insurance we can't afford surgery and post-surgery costs..."

Cuddy rubbed her temple and then her neck.

"She's in custody of Social Services, right?" She asked, looking up at him "So... why is she still here?"

"Charity" He replied "She wasn't stable after birth. The Board decided to keep her here until she improved. But she's getting worse. And the surgery she needs wasn't in our plans..."

Cuddy nodded slightly and stayed thoughtful a few seconds before looking again up at him.

"Do you have her medical records?" She asked.

"It's in the ward..." he replied "I can get you a copy..."

"Fine" She said "Give me time to think of something... Let's see what I can do..." she added, looking into his eyes.

Wilson held her gaze for a few moments. He knew that look. _Determined. Authoritative. Bossy._ He nodded, smiling slightly before exiting her office.

She was back. The _boss_ was back.


	17. Asanas - Part 2

_What? Am I so predictable? Really? Who knows? ;) For now I can just say: enjoy!_

* * *

 **...**

 **Chapter 17 - Asanas - Part 2**

 **...**

* * *

Cuddy walked down the hallway of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and stopped in front of the glass wall.

She had deliberately avoided that ward since she had returned to work... it made her feel uncomfortable ...

She was fine and she was taking back control of her life... but that department reopened still too recent wounds...

She hesitated before entering the door, but took a deep breath and went in, trying to keep calm.

The nurse on duty greeted her.

"Dr. Cuddy!" She said, smiling and approaching her "Here for Mia, right?" She said gesturing her to follow her and handing her the medical records of the child.

"Thank you" She said smiling slightly as she opened the folder and glanced quickly to the baby girl in the crib.

She was very small for a three-months old. But Wilson had told her that she was born premature. She could breathe on her own, but she was fed by a feeding tube and the ECG electrodes on her chest were huge compared to her.

 _God ..._ she thought as she looked at her feeling a lump in her throat...

She shook off that thought and took another deep breath as she flipped through the folder.

 _Aortic isthmus_ _coarctation_... she read on the folder.

She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again, looking back at the little girl. _Grace_... it was her first thought ... Grace was born with a perfectly healthy heart... but if Dr. Williams would be right her child would be like that little girl...

She looked at the folder again, trying to restrain her irrational side. _It's not Grace_. She repeated in her mind as she reread the medical data on folder.

Her renal function was definitely getting worse... She had to find a way to get her on surgery as soon as possible. She had talked with Teddy on the phone. According to her experience as a cardiovascular surgeon, she suggested to wait until the child was at least six months old, but the surgical intervention could be done right now if her clinical condition made it necessary, as long as her conditions were stable enough.

Cuddy sought the child's birth date.

Her heart skipped a beat as soon as she read that date and exhaled slowly, putting a hand on her forehead and leaning to the cradle with the other one.

 _January 7, 2013_

"Dr. Cuddy?" The nurse called, approaching her "Are you okay?"

"Er... yes..." She replied taking another deep breath and looking at the little girl who had started crying, focusing on herself the nurse attention. A weak cry.

Cuddy looked at the baby girl and then at the nurse as she prepared a syringe and attacked it to the feeding tube. _Enteral nutrition_. She had seen that operation a thousand times... and yet... at that right moment that so cold gesture hit her. She thought back of how many times she had nursed Grace holding her to her own chest and felt a pang for that child, abandoned by her own mother.

 _January 7 ..._ on that January 7 she had lost her son... and in the same January 7 a woman had instead voluntarily abandoned her baby...

She lightly touched her tiny hand still looking at her, and she opened her little eyes. Two small dark eyes met hers just for a moment before she closed them again.

"Do you think you could do something for her, Dr. Cuddy?" The nurse asked awakening her from her thoughts.

"Um ... I'll do my best..." She replied looking at the nurse and then back at that child "Now... I have to go..." she said with a nod as she walked out of the room.

...

* * *

"Ma-ma" Grace called her from her highchair.

House looked at Cuddy as she smiled at the little girl and took her in her arms, kissing her cheek, while Grace put her tiny arms around her neck, resting her head in the crook of her neck.

"Da - da" she said, pointing at House and smiling as he played with Rachel sitting on the floor.

Cuddy smiled at House as she put the child on the floor and she wobbly ran toward him.

"All yours" she said with a smile, bending down to kiss him lightly on the cheek.

She made coffee and handed him a cup, sitting down on the floor near him and watching her daughters play.

5 years-old Rachel. 16 months-old Grace... Rachel was trying to build a very high Lego tower... Grace was trying to destroyed it...

In any other family that would be the beginning of a tragedy... with tears and desperate crying... but theirs wasn't an ordinary family, she thought as she sipped her coffee.

"Bravo Rach!" House said holding Grace in his arms and looking at Rachel as she put the last Lego brick on top of the tower.

"Get _King Kong_ free, Daddy!" she said laughing watching House as he kissed Grace on the cheek saying "Go, _Shorty_!"

Cuddy couldn't suppress a laugh as Rachel laughed watching her little sister focused on destroying everything and then hugged her with a "Bravo, _Gracie_!". She proudly smiled, repeating a sort of " _Ta-ta_ " and clapping her hands.

"You're a genius!" she said smiling and clinging to him, kissing him slightly on the lips.

"I know" he said "It's why you hired me, Cuddy!" He laughed.

"And why I married you!" She added, kissing him on the lips again.

"No!" He replied with a mischievous smile " _That_... not only for _that talent_ of mine"

Cuddy laughed, shaking her head slightly.

"Yeah" she answered, smiling and biting her lip " _Definitely_ not just for that" she laughed, kissing him again.

...

* * *

Cuddy entered the living room and looked at House. He was sitting in the armchair reading the latest issue of the _American Journal Of Cardiology_ with his glasses on the nose tip.

"Both asleep?" he asked without looking up from his medical journal.

"Yes" she said "They were dead tired"

She picked up the toys that still were on the floor and put them in the box in the corner, staying motionless for a few moments just looking at them.

House looked at her, taking off his glasses.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked, seeing her so thoughtful. Her eyes were fixed on a point in front of her, and her mind seemed far away.

"What?" She asked, turning toward him.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Er... yes... just work..." she said as she sat down on the arm of the armchair and he put his arm around her waist as she bent to kiss him.

She paused to nibble at his lower lip looking into his eyes.

"Do you know a way to clear my mind?" She asked with a mischievous smile still biting his lip.

"It's why you married me..." he replied teasing her and pulling her toward him slipping a hand under her shirt and making her straddle him.

"I married you because... I love everything of you..." she said, brushing his lips.

"Everything..." he laughed "... but with a particular _preference_..." he laughed again, raising an eyebrow.

"God... you're so stupid..." she laughed, shaking her head.

"Well... I can assure you that _something here_ has a _growing and big_ passion for you right now..." he said, biting her lip and brushing her tongue gently pushing his pelvis towards her and making her aware of his erection.

"Oh... God..." she whispered, clinging closer to him and looking mischievously at him straight in the eyes before standing up and slipping off his pants.

"What are you doing?" He asked with a mischievous look as she undressed and knelt in front of him.

"You're right..." she said, biting her lip "... I have a particular preference" she added, wrapping a hand around his erection.

She heard him groan as she moved her hand up and down on his length and she saw him close his eyes and reopen them before meeting her gaze.

"I thought _you_ were the one who need to clear her mind" he said, looking for her lips.

"I assure you, Greg ..." she said mischievously still moving her hand along his length "... the only thing in my mind right now... is _this_ ..." she said, bending down on him and taking him in her mouth, arousing him with her tongue.

"God... Lisa..." he moaned clutching her hair before taking her by the arms, pulling her on him again.

"You also have a _preference_ then..." she said in an excited tone straddling him again and then crossing her legs behind his back making him to enter her deeply.

They both moaned at that sensation, and their tongues sought each other simultaneously with growing passion.

Their bodies moved rhythmically with increasing emphasis.

In that room where just a little before there were laughter and voices of children, now the silence was broken only by their increasingly heavy breathing and ever more pressing moans.

She kept her arms around his neck as she moved on him, he kept his hands on her buttocks, supporting her movements.

She met his gaze just a moment before the waves of pleasure of a deep orgasm overwhelmed her and he recognized that flash in her eyes. "God, my love... yes..." he groaned unable to stand up to that feeling, letting himself go to pleasure and pouring himself inside her.

They held each other, everyone hiding their face in the crook of each other's neck as their breathing was still labored, before looking again for their mouths in a deep kiss.

He saw her smile as she broke away from his lips.

"Even... this _lotus position_ is definitely more rewarding of my _padmasana_ " she laughed biting his lip.

"I told you that _my asanas_ are better than yours" he said laughing, brushing her tongue and stroking her bare back with both hands.

She looked into his eyes and kissed him on the lips.

"And... I have to admit it..." she laughed "... I have a preference for _it_ " she added, biting his lower lip "and... for your mouth and... your fingers..." she added, laughing.

"God Lisa... you know you can't talk to me like that..." he said in an aroused tone looking again with passion for her mouth.

...

* * *

"God Greg ..." she moaned "oh... my love... yes ..." she repeated, panting, as she block his head between her legs and his mouth sent her over the edge again.

House moved on top of her, looking for her tongue and penetrating her deeply, looking into her eyes as he moved inside her and then let go in turn to a second orgasm.

They held each other for a long time under the sheets while he kept his face hidden between her breasts and she stroked his shoulders and back.

She kissed him on the lips again as he rolled to her side and she sat up on the bed.

House looked at her as she took a small pill from the blister pack on the night table and dry-swallowed it before slipping back under the sheets.

He didn't miss how she looked for a second at that tiny round pill in the palm of her hand.

"Dry?" He laughed "I thought I was the only one to do it" he laughed again.

She looked at him and smiled.

"My pill is tiny" she said, laughing "I could never do it with one of those" she said, pointing at the pills on his night table and leaning over to kiss him on the mouth.

House looked at her as she clung to him.

"So... what's wrong?" He asked again.

She smiled and bit her lip.

"I really can't hide anything, can I?" she said looking into his eyes.

"Definitely not! I know you too well, Lisa" he replied "It's another one of my _talents._.." he added, laughing.

"Yeah" she laughed, shaking her head.

She hesitated, not knowing what to say. In the end there was nothing to say. She have been doing that job for almost twenty years and had got hundreds of cases similar to that one...

"I have a problem with a little patient in the neonatal intensive care unit..." she said "... she needs surgery but has no insurance..."

House looked at her.

"What kind of malformation is it?" He asked.

"She has an aortic isthmus coarctation. She's already on prostaglandins. Arteriosus ductus is open... but she's hypoperfused anyway. She's on enteral nutrition and her renal function is getting worse. Without surgery she'll have serious permanent damages... "

House weighed that answer... extremely _objective and professional_...

"And she makes you think of Grace" he said, reading her thoughts.

She looked at him and sighed.

"If I say no... you'll tell that I'm lying..." she said, looking away.

"Yeah" he replied.

"It's just that she's so small and... helpless... and alone..."

"Alone?"

Cuddy looked up at him.

"Her mother abandoned her just after her birth. According to what I know she was a young girl too..." she said, rubbing her forehead.

"How old is she?"

Cuddy looked at him and then looked down, biting her lip and hesitating before looking up at him again meeting his questioning look.

She sighed and bit her lip before answering.

"She was born... on January 7..." she said looking into his eyes.

House closed his eyes briefly before looking back at her.

"Are you okay? " he asked looking for her hand and holding it in his.

She nodded and moved closer to him.

"Lisa... she's not..." he said

"I know, House... and I'm fine..." she replied not leaving him time to finish the sentence "... I just wish I could do something for her..."

"Come here" he said holding her tighter and kissing her hair as she leaned her head on his chest.

"You'll find a solution ... you always do it..." he added "... now... try to sleep..."

"Yes..." she said "I love you... you know I do, do you?"

"Of course I know..." he said "And I love you..."


	18. Instinct

**Chapter 18 - Instinct**

 **...**

* * *

"Lisa"

"Hi Teddy" she said smiling and turning back to look at her as she approached her walking along the hallway.

"James told me that you succeeded in convince the Board to use some funds for Mia's surgical intervention..." she said smiling slightly.

"Yes" she replied "... it haven't been so easy to convince them... but what matters is that she can be undergone to surgery" she said looking into her eyes "... when do you think her intervention could be scheduled?"

"In a few days... a week at most..." she replied "... I'm going to see her right now... Come with me?" She asked.

Cuddy hesitated but nodded.

"Sure" she answered.

...

* * *

She had avoided to go back in the NICU.

That child upset her.

She felt a strange feeling looking at her. She reminded her of all her children put together...

 _Rachel_...

... Alone and abandoned by all her family...

 _Grace..._

... It was just the fear of that same malformation that had gathered her to House...

... and _Jess_...

... Legally that January 7 he wasn't dead... because he was never born... but for her, he was much more than a twenty-one-weeks-old fetus...

And House knew it... she hadn't let him finish that sentence, but that _"... she's not..."_ she knew that he meant... _"she's not our son"..._

She looked at her as she approached the crib. So little and full of tubes... too weak even for sucking... and yet... she was beautiful... a perfect little face, perfect tiny hands and feet...

She looked at Teddy as she examined the baby. And she looked at the stethoscope resting on her small chest.

"She seems stable" she said awakening her from her thoughts "I'll let you know as soon as I schedule the surgery"

"Sure" she replied "I... I'll be out of town a few days for a Conference, but call me for news, ok?"

Teddy nodded, but looked away, feeling the vibration of her pager.

"Sorry... an emergency in my ward... I have to go. Talk to you later, Lisa" she said greeting her with a smile before running away.

She nodded as she watched her walk along the hallway before the baby's crying caught her attention.

She looked around. The nurse was busy with another baby, and paid no attention to her, continuing to do what she was doing and just lifting her head to look at her boss.

"I've just feed her... and changed her diaper, Dr. cuddy..." she said meeting her gaze "... nothing to worry about..."

Cuddy watched the nurse as she wrote something on the folder after arranging the drip of another little patient. She nodded slightly, before looking again at Mia.

 _.. nothing to worry about..._ she repeated to herself, looking at the baby, hesitant about what to do... her little face was red from crying, her tiny hands were clenched into fists... _she's sated_... _and clean_... she thought... two of her main needs... but not her _primary_ need... human warmth... a caress... a hug...

Her rational part collided with the irrational one... but she looked at her again and couldn't stand that crying. She gently lifted her from the crib, paying attention to the tubes protruding from her body and held her in her arms, clinging her to herself.

 _Shhh..._ she repeated rocking her slightly as she had done so many times with Grace and Rachel...

Mia stopped crying and her dark eyes met the gray-blue of Cuddy's... and that gaze took her breath away...

 _Oh God..._ she thought as she watched her, getting lost in her eyes.

"Hey... it's fine, honey" she whispered, gently kissing her forehead.

And that feeling sent her a shiver down her spine... the softness of her skin... the scent of her blond hair...

She wasn't Rachel... she wasn't Grace... she wasn't _Jess_... she was Mia... just Mia... and yet... what she felt floored her.. she had already felt that feeling... twice... the first time she had held both her daughters in her arms...

 _Oh my God... what the hell is happening to me?_ ... She thought looking at her and feeling an overwhelming need to protect her... and an irresistible desire not to let her go...

...

* * *

"Dr. Cuddy" her assistant said, entering her office.

Cuddy looked up from the file she was double-checking and smiled.

"The reservation of your flight to Chicago is confirmed. Two business class tickets from Newark..." she said handing her the tickets "... here, I guess it's better I give you even Dr. House's ticket..."

"Um ... sure ... thank you, Trisha" she said, taking the two tickets and turning them in her hands before greeting her with a smile.

...

* * *

"Since when you go with me to a conference... of your own free will?" She asked smiling and biting her lip, leaning with her back against the door frame of his office.

House looked up from his patient's folder and took off his glasses.

"Did you want to go alone?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No" she said, approaching him "... but... it's _weird_ " she said looking into his eyes.

"It's a conference on Diagnostics... and... I'm the Head of Diagnostics" he said holding her gaze.

"Sure" she said ironically moving closer to him and leaning with her lower back on his desk as he put his hands on her hips still sitting in his chair. " _Budget optimization in Diagnostics_ " she said, looking at him straight in the eyes.

"You're too picky" he said, smiling.

She laughed.

"Greg... you don't have to accompany me... I know you hate this stuff..." she said looking into his eyes with a serious tone "I have to give a lecture so I have to go... but you..." she slightly bit her lip still looking at him "you... you don't have to continue to protect me... I'm fine..."

"I know... but I want to go with you" he said looking into her eyes "... and have you give a look at that hotel room, Cuddy?" He added with a mischievous look "... I have a certain idea for that Jacuzzi..." he said, stroking her leg and moving his fingers up, under the hem of her skirt.

"You're always the same" she said, laughing and slapping his hand lightly before bending down to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"Admit that you like it" he laughed, in turn, looking at her with a mischievous look.

She didn't answer but stared back at him as she kissed him lightly on the lips again.

...

* * *

Cuddy gave her documents to the desk and looked around turning a brochure of the hotel in her hands as she waited. She looked at the receptionist as he checked the booking data on the computer screen.

 _Dr. Gregory House._

 _Dr. Lisa Cuddy._

"Same room?" He asked looking up from the computer and looking at House and then at her.

Cuddy opened her mouth to speak, but House was quicker.

" _My boss_ here insists on paying my overtime in this way!" He said staring at him with a serious but slightly mischievous look "Hey! Did you watch her, man? I'd be a fool not to accept!"

Cuddy rolled her eyes in exasperation looking at House before meeting the amused and _interested_ gaze of the receptionist. She sighed and took the room key from the counter then taking House by his arm and dragging him away.

"You can't help it, can you?" She asked, staring at him.

"You know that it would be easier if you booked as _Mrs. House_ , right?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

He watched her as she rolled her eyes at him again.

"It's not a trip with the kids, House!" She said not hiding the irritation in her voice "And we are in 2013, not in the nineteenth century!" she added, glaring at him.

"Too bad... a nineteenth-century-style corset on you would be..."

Cuddy didn't let him finish the sentence.

"Take this to the wardrobe" she said putting her jacket in his hands forcing him to look up from her breast.

House looked at her and let out a laugh. She was serious, but the light in her eyes betrayed her real mood.

"I'm not your _lackey_ , Dr. Cuddy" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"From what you just said to your _buddy_... you are" she replied, turning and walking toward the elevator.

House looked at her for a moment or rather watched the sway of her hips and smiled to himself, running his tongue over his lips. _So terribly sexy!_

Cuddy walked toward the elevator. She should have been annoyed by that argument. She shook her head slightly, smiling to himself and biting her lip slightly. She wasn't annoyed. She was... _turned on._

She stopped a few steps from the elevator and her gaze lingered on the man who was waiting for the doors to open. Tall, dark hair, dark complexion, decidedly Latin facial features.

"Jake?" She said approaching him of just a few steps.

He turned and looked at her as a big smile immediately appeared on his lips.

"Lisa?" He said approaching and hugging her, kissing her on the cheek "Oh my God! How many years? Ten?"

She laughed.

"Definitely more, Jake..." she said, shaking her head.

"Well... not for you..." he said looking at her "You're still the same"

"Well... thank you ..." she said "... you too..." she added.

"And you're still a bad liar" he said laughing, looking into her eyes and then looking at the elevator doors as they opened.

Cuddy turned to House who had joined her as they entered the elevator. He obviously hadn't missed the last part of the conversation between his wife and that guy.

"What floor?" Jake asked, looking at the keypad.

Cuddy turned the electronic key in her hands. Room number 1048.

"Tenth" she said, looking up at him.

Jake reached for the panel, but House was faster, and pushed the number 10 button with the tip of his cane. Jake didn't pay particular attention to that, turning instead his attention to Cuddy. She, on the other side, would have paid to see House's face at that right moment, but he was behind her and she would never give him the satisfaction of looking back at him.

"Attic! Good taste!" Jake said, smiling "Like me..." he said showing her his key "Room 1046... next to yours" he added.

"Well, _Dr. Cuddy_ , _we_ really have to hope that the walls are well soundproofed" House's voice said from behind as he took the key from her hands pausing to look at the guy who had so much confidence with his wife. Cuddy rolled her eyes and held back a smile.

"Jake... please, meet _Dr. Gregory House, Head of Diagnostics at Princeton-Plainsboro_ " she said looking at Jake before turning back to House, putting a hand on his arm. She looked at him straight in the eyes, intentionally hesitating a moment before adding with a smile "... _and my husband_...".

"First of all... _her husband_ " House pointed out looking at Lisa straight in the eyes for a moment before looking at Jake.

"Dr. Reilly and I attended the same Specialization School" she added looking at House as he reached for Reilly, shaking his hand with a nod of the head.

Reilly nodded slightly and smiled as the doors slid open. They stopped in front of their rooms.

"It has been a pleasure to see you, Lisa" he said putting an arm around her and kissing her lightly on the cheek before shook again House's hand, still looking at him and then at Cuddy as he opened the door of his room "... maybe we should drink something together one of these days... "

"Sure" she said greeting him and smiling slightly before watching House as he opened the door of their room.

House closed the bedroom door and looked at her.

"I knew I shouldn't send you to this conference alone!" He said glancing mischievously at her.

She smiled and shook her head.

"How well do you know the... _Latin endocrinologist_?" He asked with the same look moving closer to her and putting his hands on her hips.

She shook her head again.

"God, Greg..." she laughed "... I don't think you really want to know..."

He looked at her again and moved closer to her taking her face in both hands as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, pushing her against the wall.

"Oh God..." she moaned as he lifted her skirt and passionately kissed her neck "Are you defining your territory?" She asked searching his eyes and smiling mischievously without stopping, however, looking for his lips.

"Definitely yes..." he replied kissing her neck and sucking behind her ear, holding her against the wall and lifting her skirt, spreading her legs more with his knee. He couldn't stand the temptation to move her panties apart to touch her, but stood the temptation to penetrate her with his fingers, despite the fact that the feeling of how much already wet she was drove him crazy.

She could clearly feel his erection even through the fabric of his jeans.

"For me... or for him..." he asked, looking into her eyes as he touched her between her legs, then removing the hand and beginning to unbutton her blouse.

"You already know the answer" she said while he caressed her skin, kissing her breasts through her bra and she stroked his nape.

 _Yes, he knew it._ But he wanted to hear it, by her .

"Say it" he said looking into her eyes. His voice hoarse with excitement as he looked for her tongue.

"You" she said. She wouldn't have been able to pronounce most of those three letters as his tongue invaded her mouth and he pushed her impatiently toward the bed, leaving a trail of clothes on the floor.

He didn't look away from her as he took off his pants and freed his erection rubbing it with his hand, still looking at her. Completely naked, her hair spread on the sheets. Turgid nipples and dilated pupils... signs of how much turned on she already was.

She looked at him and licked her lips, spreading her legs wide and letting him to look at her. Time ago she would have been ashamed to show herself off like this... to be so bold... but not now...

"It turns me on when you're jealous..." she said with a naughty gaze looking into his eyes and then at his erection before touching herself lightly with her fingers. Not to please herself but because she wanted his eyes on herself. She wanted him to be aware of how much turned on she was... for him ...

House leaned over her and put her hands over her head as he lay down on top of her, intentionally avoiding to penetrate her, rubbing his erection on her belly and her pubis.

"Oh God" he heard her moan as he kissed her passionately and she tried to wriggle out of his hands to be able of touching him.

He kept to hold her hands in place above her head as he kissed and sucked her neck, then going down to kiss her breasts, teasing her nipple with his tongue and then sucking it, making her moan and arch her back more. House's left hand kept the grip on her wrists as he slid his right hand on her skin, caressing her hip and thigh. He smiled feeling her legs spreading open even wider. She wanted him. He had no doubt about how much she wanted him. And _she was his_. He released his grip on her wrists and took her face in his hands seeking her lips and tongue with passion while her hands stroked his back.

"God... you have no idea of how much I want you" he said breaking away for a moment from her lips before looking again ardently for her tongue, without giving her time to reply.

He broke away from her lips and kissed her neck again, then her breasts and belly before moving down between her legs. Cuddy kept her hands through his hair, stroking his nape.

"Oh G..." she moaned while her own moans stifled in her throat.

House let that it was just his tongue to excite her more than how she already was, avoiding to touch her with his hands. She could feel his tongue moving all over her and into her. He was everywhere. Her legs trembled immediately as he explore her with his tongue and clutched his hair in her hands, forcing him to stay exactly where he was.

"Oh God... Greg... more..." she moaned arching her back and pushing her most intimate part even more against his mouth.

He let her legs began to tremble stronger before lifting his head, feeling her moans suddenly choking in her throat as she opened her eyes.

"Oh God... _please_..." She moaned.

"You can't imagine how arousing it is to hear you as you beg for an orgasm, _Dr. Cuddy_ " he said with a mischievous smile looking for her mouth, letting just the tip of his shaft to penetrate her, making her beg for more.

"House... _please_... I can't take it anymore..." she moaned still looking into his eyes and meeting his naughty gaze. All she wanted was to feel him completely and deeply inside her.

At the hospital she was the boss. She never begged... That was the only situation in which she beg. In their bed. And House couldn't stand that role play anymore. He could read her desire in her eyes. The same beautiful woman who had hired him many years before... powerful, used to have everyone at her feet... in their bed that woman begged him to be his. It was a feeling that even after three years, he couldn't stand.

He looked into her eyes as he entered her with a sharp movement of his pelvis, leaving her breathless.

"God, yes..." he heard her moan as he thrust into her.

It took him a just a couple of thrusts to make her almost scream his name. If they weren't in that hotel room she would have screamed. He sought her mouth and her eyes, kissing her passionately as she came, smothering those screams in his own mouth.

Cuddy opened her eyes continuing to kiss him as he thrust into her again, and he saw a flash in her eyes that for a moment he couldn't decipher. It was just a moment, but enough for her to push him away and get on top of him making him lie down on the bed.

"Guess who's going to beg for an orgasm now..." she said archly running her tongue over her lips and taking him in her hand, slowly massaging him.

Obviously she wasn't strong enough to do it against his will. He was almost twice her weight, but House liked that erotic game as much as she had liked his.

She bent over him, torturing him with her tongue and sucking him slowly. First his tip, and then more and more deeply. Watching her as she sucked him was such a strong feeling that it was not easy not to let go, pouring into her mouth... She continued to suck and lick him, moving her hand on his length and his testicles and exciting him with her mouth at the same time. She could tell when he was going to come... from his groans and from how he held his breath... and just then she let him go, leaving him with a throbbing and frustrating feeling of pleasure just waiting to be freed.

"God, Lisa" he groaned tilting his head back.

"What do you want, _House_?" She asked looking at him in the eyes and pushing her tongue into his mouth.

He didn't answer and kissed her stronger as she moved slowly on him, rubbing herself on him but not letting him to penetrate her.

"Oh God..." he groaned "Lisa... I swear I'm going to come on the sheets if you don't..." he didn't finish the sentence as she pinched him, interrupting that feeling of pleasure.

He let out a smile and looked into her eyes, looking for her mouth and keeping his hands in her hair.

"God... you're driving me crazy..." he said on her lips.

She smiled back "Pride hurts, _Dr. House_..." she whispered on his lips "... I want that word" she repeated on his lips, letting the tip of his penis graze her entrance, feeling her warmth. So soft... and warm... and wet...

"God, Cuddy..." he groaned again "... _please_..." he moaned in her mouth.

It was an explosion of sensations as soon as she pushed him suddenly and deeply into herself, moving on him and bringing him to the edge far more quickly than she would have liked. He looked for her mouth as he came with a hoarse groan thrusting hard inside her.

He saw her smile on his lips as he panted, breaking away from that kiss and laughing in turn.

"God... I love you..." he said in her mouth as he held her in his arms.

She smiled.

"You give your best when you're jealous" she said smiling.

"Did you use to scream his name as you scream mine?" he asked, laughing, kissing her lips.

"Oh God, Greg ... you're disgusting!" She said, slapping his arm "... you're still inside me... and do you really want me to think about sex with another man?" She asked glaring at him but letting out a smile.

"Definitely not" he laughed "But I want you to be fully aware of what you would have lost..." he said, brushing her lips.

"Technically, _House_ " she said looking into his eyes with a raised eyebrow "... he took _what_ _you_ _consciously left_ when you disappeared..." she added, smiling and biting his lip.

House didn't answer, but he couldn't help but smiling back as he stroked her face still looking for her tongue.


	19. Chemistry

**CHAPTER 19 - Chemistry**

 **...**

* * *

House and Cuddy were sitting in the hotel wine bar. A Martini for her, a Scotch for him.

"Do you remember that conference in Singapore five years ago?" He asked taking a sip of his Scotch.

She let out a laugh watching her drink.

"Well... of course I do" she said "I practically had hysterics"

House laughed.

"Yeah ..." he said "... but I wasn't referring to the return flight" he said, smiling at her "... we had a drink together, sitting at that wine bar just like tonight..." he said looking into her eyes.

"Yes..." she laughed "but I still wonder what was into that Martini" she said, shaking her head "... I assure you that it hadn't been easy for me to keep my self-control that night "

"It wasn't that Martini... but the analgesic you took and then _drowned_ in the Martini" he said, shaking his head.

"Yeah" she laughed, biting her lip as she thought back to that night.

"I could have taken advantage of you that night, Cuddy, instead of _cavalierly_ leading you to your room" he said with a mischievous look.

"And why you didn't?" she asked with the same look.

He didn't answer and just took another sip of his scotch, then looking again into her eyes, still without answering.

Cuddy laughed, shaking her head.

"We've been together for almost three years and you still don't dare to admit it?" She asked running her tongue over her lips, staring at him.

"Admit what?" He asked back holding her gaze.

She smiled.

"That... it wasn't just _get into my panties_ what you wanted, _Doctor House_ " she said still staring at him "... you cared about me, but you were scared to death by the _chemistry_ between us" she said, biting her lip and smiling "... otherwise I can assure you that you would have taken advantage that night" she laughed.

House ran his tongue on his lips.

"There's always been that _strange chemistry_ between us" he said looking into her eyes and intertwining his fingers with hers "... since Michigan..."

"Yes" she said, looking into his eyes as he stroked her hand with his thumb "... and guess who's to blame if I found endocrinology so _exciting_ to choose it as my specialization?" She laughed, shaking her head slightly.

"Of _exciting_ I just remember your cleavage" House laughed "Guess why I always sit behind you?" He laughed still looking at her with a mischievous look as she shook her head and smiled slightly.

"Yeah" she replied "Guess why I always sit in front of you?" She laughed still thinking back to those lecture hours in the auditorium.

 _God, you have no idea of how beautiful you are when you laugh and tilt your head like that..._ House thought watching her and running his tongue over his lips before looking away as something behind her caught his attention.

"Talking about _endocrinologists_..." he said, looking at Jake as he approached their table, this time accompanied by a beautiful woman with long red hair tied in a ponytail.

Cuddy turned back seeing House's look and immediately recognized the woman holding Jake's hand. Tight jeans, a pair of ballerina flat, and a blouse with a low neckline that rivaled hers.

"Oh my God! Addison?" She exclaimed smiling and standing up to hug her, unable to believe of meeting her College roommate there, after almost twenty years.

"When Jake told me you were here, I couldn't believe it" Addison said breaking away from the embrace and looking into her eyes, before looking at House, smiling.

"Hi, House!" She said reaching out for him "I'm surprised you're still _alive_ after all the curses I sent you twenty years ago" she said laughing "... I see that at least you made it up _to her_..." she said, pointing to Lisa "... because I haven't yet forgiven you for the sleepless nights I went through because of you" she said, laughing watching him and then again Lisa.

"You should have chosen a better roommate, then!" House said as he shook hand with her, shaking his head too, unable to hold back a laugh.

"Or break a legs to that _dude_ to keep him from running just after screwing her!" She said, looking at him straight into the eyes.

House looked at her with an amused look.

"I know who to thank for _this_ then, Addison Montgomery!" He said, pointing to his cane but letting out a laugh.

Addison covered her face with both hands, shaking her head before looking at him again with the hint of a smile.

"Shit! ... sorry!" She said with a slightly embarrassed smile "Really an awful joke" She said, shaking her head again.

House looked at her and smiled in turn.

"Something to drink?" He asked looking at her and then at Jake, pointing to the chairs at their table.

...

* * *

They haven't met almost since Michigan. They had been in contact in the beginning, just after their degree, even if they had chosen different paths and different lives on opposite sides of the Country. But then, over the years, work demands had reduced their contacts... they phoned each other just for birthday wishes and then gradually not even for those.

"I can't believe it..." Addison said looking up from her drink and looking at Lisa slightly shaking her head "... you found him in the end!" She added looking at her and then at House.

Cuddy smiled shaking her head lightly.

"Actually... he found me. He was seeking a job and I hired him at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital." She said glancing in turn at House.

Addison didn't hold back a laugh.

"Whoa! So... are you his boss?" She asked laughing, looking at her and then at House.

"Yes, she has my balls!" House replied watching Addison and raising an eyebrow.

"And not just metaphorically!" Cuddy said, turning her head towards him and patting him on the shoulder.

Addison looked at them both smiling and shaking her head again. She knew that House was a world renowned diagnostician. Infectious diseases were not her field, but she had read several medical articles on international journals. And she knew that Lisa had chosen a managerial career. Gosh, she had been one of the youngest Dean of Medicine in the Country! But she had never thought that they could work together. And even less that she could hire him in her hospital...

"Whoa..." she repeated still astonished by that revelation before her gaze focused on the two rings on Cuddy's ring finger and from that to... House's. Identical to hers.

"Oh Gosh..." she smiled, her eyes widening to the new revelation "... you got married to your boss?" She asked to House, looking at his wedding band.

House shook his head, looking in turn to his own left hand.

"What? This?" He said, smiling "No! They sold them _two for one_!" He laughed while Cuddy slapped him on the shoulder.

Addison laughed, taking another sip of her drink.

"At the beginning it wasn't easy... now we have our balance..." she said, looking at House "Only one rule... I can't give him any promotion and increase" she said, looking at Addison, but then again turning to House hearing him laughing.

"Well... you give me an _increase_... almost daily, Cuddy!" He said looking at her with a mischievous look running his tongue over his lips, not holding back a laugh.

Cuddy closed her eyes, running in turn her tongue on her lips holding back a laugh, and then she opened them again staring at him for a moment before looking back at Addison and Jake.

Addison looked at them both, smiling. He teased her. She could stand up to him. Like in College. They haven't changed.

"What's about you two? How long have you been together?" Cuddy asked, looking at Jake and Addison and smiling, taking a sip of her third drink.

Addison smiled.

"We met almost a year ago at a conference and... one thing leads to another..." she said, smiling and looking at Jake before looking at Lisa again, raising an eyebrow "You and I have always had the same tastes, Lisa" she said shaking her head "... but _he_ didn't give a shit about me at all" she said, nodding her head toward House.

House looked into her eyes before looking at Jake.

"You'd better take that drink off her or she'll tell something she might regret tomorrow morning" he said letting out a laugh.

...

* * *

Cuddy took House's hand as the elevator doors closed.

"I drank too much" she said laughing looking at the doors as they slid open, leaning slightly to him.

House looked at her and smiled slightly.

"You and your friend held alcohol much better in College" he said, laughing and kissing her hair as he opened the door of their room.

Cuddy laughed.

"Maybe because I was twenty years younger" she laughed again.

House looked at her as she undressed, in turn unbuttoning his own shirt. He let his eyes lingering on the curve of her breasts and hips.

"I've always loved that look" she said, looking mischievously at him and biting her lip as she approached him, finishing to unbutton his shirt then slipping it from his shoulders and letting it fall on the floor.

"And..." she added "... you've never looked at Addison with this look..." she said clutching closer to him, letting him slowly move his hands from her shoulders down her spine and her lower back while he looked into her eyes.

House didn't answer, but smiled on her lips and slipped his hand into her panties, touching her butt more.

"I'm for brunette" he said pulling her closer to himself and making her aware of his erection through his jeans while with one hand he unhooked her bra.

"Yeah" she said with a smile, biting his lip "She has always been a good friend... but... better for me to keep her away from you..." she added with a mischievous look.

" _You_ instead... you aren't a _good_ friend" he said looking into her eyes "...you _had_ her man... you should at least let her have yours" he added letting out a laugh.

"You're not funny" she replied glaring at him.

"She was _famous_ at College" he said giving her a naughty look.

Cuddy look at him with the same look she gave him in hospital when he said something of very inappropriate, but she didn't take his provocation.

"Well... her mouth was famous... " he laughed, looking at her as she bent her head by side giving him a death look.

"And her hand..." he added, pushing the subject and looking at her as she stared at him.

"What's the hell are you talking about? She's never been a bitch, House!" she said staring at him "And, by the way... what do you know about it?" She replied, bothered by the turn that talking had taken.

House looked at her with an amused look. Just by the turn that talking had taken.

"Maybe my _sources_ are more reliable than yours" he answered raising an eyebrow and lingering on the word _'sources'_ with the clear purpose to make her angry.

"Maybe!" She replied, taking a step back and staring at him.

"I guess you know where to find _her hand_ " she said gesturing toward the door "Because, if not, the only thing you're going to have tonight it's _your hand_ , House" she added, turning back and trying to clasp her bra.

House laughed, taking her arm and pulling her back to himself.

"God... you're so beautiful when you're jealous" he whispered on her lips putting a hand in her hair and looking ardently for her tongue.

He felt her resistance just for a few seconds as he pushed his tongue into her mouth, before she gave up to the feel of his tongue voraciously stroking hers.

He pushed her on the bed and looked at her as he lay on top of her, still looking for her mouth.

"My hand is already busy tonight" he said on her mouth slipping a hand between her legs "... to fuck my wife" he added as he entered her with his fingers making her arch her back and smothering with his mouth the moans she couldn't hold back.

"Oh God, Greg... " she moaned on his lips as she couldn't control herself and moved her pelvis toward him, rubbing herself against the palm of his hand.

House looked into her eyes kissing her again and then kissing the blush of her cheeks and neck before moving back to her mouth.

"Come for me" he whispered with hoarse voice before kissing her again, still moving his fingers in and out of her.

He saw on her face the power of those words as she closed her eyes and trembled, letting herself go to the pleasure exploding inside her and overwhelming her in wave of pleasure.

He looked at her as she panted and he leaned on her, sucking one of her nipples as her chest rose and fell rapidly.

He looked again for her mouth before looking for her eyes. He looked mischievously at her, standing up and leaving her naked on the bed. She looked at him as he unbuckled his jeans freeing his erection and started to move his hand on himself, not looking away from her.

"Since _my hand_ is the only thing I can have tonight, Lisa..." he said, looking mischievously at her "... I'll let you watch what you're missing" he said answering the unspoken question he could read in her eyes.

"God..." she said, biting her lip as she watched him sitting down on the bed and leaning his head against the headboard. The desire that that hand was hers became more and more compelling.

She watched as he closed his eyes and increased the speed of his hand, rubbing himself in all his length. She could feel her most intimate part throb as she watched him and his hard penis disappeared rhythmically in his hand.

"God, Greg ..." she whispered still looking at him as he opened his eyes to look at her "... since when you listen to what I say?" She said, smiling and leaning on him to kiss him passionately on the mouth, putting her hand on his.

"I feel like I'm going to have another orgasm ..." she whispered "... just by looking at you..." she said, looking into his eyes and still searching for his tongue.

"You are going to have another orgasm, babe" he said on her lips as he took her in his arms and made her straddle him, penetrating her deeply.

"Oh my..." she moaned at the feeling of being finally filled by him and to that of his hands moving from her back to his buttocks.

The way she moved on him drove him crazy and he quickly felt her walls tighten around him as she moaned his name again hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

"God, Lisa, you drive me crazy" he groaned as she continued to move on him but more slowly, savoring every sensation of that extreme pleasure.

She raised her head and kissed him on the mouth while he kept his hands in her hair, and she recognized that glint in his eyes as he came inside her with a hoarse moan, before kissing her again.

He kept to stroke her back while she hide her head in the crook of his neck again. The breath of both still labored.

"Did you really have sex with her?" Cuddy asked him lifting her head to look at him.

House laughed, shaking his head and looking for her lips.

"As she said, _I didn't give a shit about her at all_ , Lisa" he answered looking for her lips as though Cuddy moved her head back to prevent him to kiss her.

"That's not what I asked you" she said looking into his eyes "... and you certainly didn't need to _care about her_ to have a blowjob, House"

House laughed, taking her head with both hands and forcing her to look at him.

"I never had sex with Addison" he said, looking straight into her eyes "Of any kind" he pointed out, pulling her to himself and touching her lips "And there weren't rumors about her yet..." he added, seeing a smile appearing on her lips.

"And ... as I already told you a thousand times, if that morning the Dean didn't served me with my expulsion from Medical School, I would have phoned you" he said biting her lip and running slowly his fingers on her back, lingering on each vertebra of her spine.

"Who knows ..." House laughed "... maybe now we would have _those six kids_! You'd got pregnant before finishing our studies ... I would be... who knows... a grease monkey and you a waitress in a coffee bar..." he added, laughing " ... you'd be a very hot waitress! " He said sucking her lip.

Cuddy looked at him unable to hold back a smile.

"Maybe... I wouldn't be so disappointed" she said on his lips "Well... if first I survived my parents..." she added, laughing.

House looked at her quizzically, raising an eyebrow.

"Ok... maybe I would" she said, laughing and shaking her head "I _wasn't_ crazy enough!"

" _Not yet_ " he pointed making her laugh more.

"Now I am?" She asked with a smile on his mouth as he held her tighter in his arms.

"Well, Cuddy... you hired a crazy diagnostician and then you married him..." House said smiling as he kissed her lightly on the lips "So... maybe... yes, you are!" He added with a smile.

Cuddy nodded, smiling back.

"I'm crazy... for you" she whispered on his mouth, this time looking for his tongue into a long, deep kiss.


	20. Home

_**Hello everybody! Here I am again, quicker than usual ;) Someone asked me where the girls are? Um... mom and dad are out for business (well... ok...not just for business ;) ...) so they're at home. But... you want the Huddy family, right? So... here's the Huddy family! I'm not a certain Shore so I like to make you happy! ;)**_

 **...**

 **CHAPTER 20 - Home**

 **...**

* * *

Cuddy walked into the bathroom and looked at House. He was immersed in the warm water of the bathtub, his head tilted back and closed eyes as he rubbed his leg with both hands. His fingers moved slowly on the muscle around his scar.

He opened his eyes, feeling her presence and smiled.

"Sorry ..." she said, meeting his gaze.

"I'm fine" he said, reading her concern in her beautiful eyes and reaching for her.

She nodded almost imperceptibly, biting her lip, and took his hand, sitting on the edge of the tub.

"I'm really fine" he repeated.

She kept looking at him and then moved her gaze on the orange bottle resting on the other edge of the tub.

"How many have you taken?" she asked looking at the bottle, not at him.

"Three" he replied "I'm fine, Lisa... but sometimes... I'll pay for a Vicodin" he said, letting out a laugh.

She suddenly turned her head to look straight into his eyes. She wasn't smiling. House couldn't help but notice the glint in her eyes. Not _disapproval. Fear._

He smiled again and stroked her hand with his thumb.

"Hey, I was joking" he said, seeing the hint of a smile appearing at last on her lips "I've already told you and I'm not going to stop... between you and Vicodin... _I choose you_!" He said as he pull her to himself to kiss her.

He touched her lips and then her tongue. Cuddy noticed the glint in his eyes as he broke away from the kiss, but it was just a moment, and he was quicker. He took her hand with more strength and pulled her to himself, holding her with the other hand as he dropped her into the water and on top of him.

"God, House!" She exclaimed, glaring at him but unable to hold back a laugh as he laughed.

"If I can't have Vicodin..." he said with a mischievous smile "I need _my alternative to Vicodin_ " he said, looking for her mouth while he held her face with one hand and slipped his other hand under her now completely soaked nightie. He smiled at the contact with her skin. She wasn't wearing any panties.

Cuddy resisted only for a moment. She couldn't stand, opening her lips slightly as his tongue tried to have access to her mouth. She let him kiss her, kissing him in turn, putting both her hands behind his neck, stroking his neck and hair.

"Let's stay here... I love this Jacuzzi" he said on her mouth as she straddled him, however, holding on to her own knees, without sitting down on him and keeping her hands on his neck.

She smiled. It was so spacious that it was comfortable even in two.

"I thought you liked making love in our shower" she said, smiling mischievously.

"I like to make love with you _everywhere_ , my love" he replied looking again and with more passion for her mouth and moving his hands on her butt.

She smiled as she bent to kiss him again and couldn't help but notice his obvious erection. House took the hem of her nightie and pulled it over her head.

"God... how can you already be so...?" she said with a smile, not finishing the sentence but failing to restrain the urge to touch him, wrapping her hand around him.

"I do nothing" he replied mischievously "... you do it..." he said, looking for her lips as she kept to massaged him.

He looked at her again and couldn't resist. He loved her hand... but he wanted to feel the warmth of her body... he wanted to be inside her...

"Come here..." he said pulling her closer to him to make her sit on him.

"Your leg..." she whispered while a flash of hesitation and concern appeared in her eyes.

"Stop thinking about _that_ leg" he said smiling slyly and slowly making her sit down on his groin.

An _"Oh my God"_ ... escaped from her lips as he slowly entered her making her savor every inch of himself.

"God, Lisa" he groaned looking for her lips and holding her face with both hands as he kissed her deeply on the mouth and she began to move on him.

He followed the movements of her body meeting her pace and moved his hands on her hips leading the movements of her pelvis so that she was sitting just on his groin and not on his leg.

"Don't stop" he said as he found it difficult to articulate the words "God, Lisa... don't stop" he repeated seeking her mouth and putting a hand through her hair as he kissed her.

"Oh God..." she moaned into his mouth, closing her eyes, feeling the pleasure growing inside her and holding her breath for a moment.

House suddenly blocked her hips thrusting deeply into her.

"Oh my..." she moaned as the words choked in her throat.

He thrust again deeply inside her and their moans mingled while pleasure overwhelmed them both.

"God, you're right" Cuddy said after a few minutes smiling and hiding her face in the crook of his neck as he stroked her wet back "... I don't want to go home" she said, laughing, kissing his neck.

...

* * *

Cuddy's cell rang and she reluctantly freed herself from House's arms lacing up the belt of her bathrobe and taking the phone from the bedside table before sitting down on the bed.

House looked at her as she talked on the phone with closed eyes and rubbing her forehead.

"Ok... thanks Teddy... please, let me know if she gets worse" she said, turning the call off still massaging her forehead and then her neck without opening her eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, sitting down on the bed beside her.

Cuddy opened her eyes and bit her lip.

"The baby girl I told you about. Her surgery was scheduled for today, but she has an infection and Teddy has to postpone it..." she said, looking away.

"What kind of infection?" He asked reaching for her and putting an arm around her waist.

Cuddy looked into his eyes and sighed.

"Uhm... I don't know... but she has a fever and high ESR and C-RP..." said "She can't withstand surgery in these conditions..." she added, looking away.

House looked at her and nodded but said nothing just stroking her back, as she smile slightly.

"Our flight is in a few hours... I'm ordering breakfast to room-service, ok?" He asked kissing her neck.

"Yes" she replied with the hint of a smile.

 **...**

* * *

House looked at Cuddy's face reflected in the window. Her head against the glass, staring at one fixed point. Outside, just clouds.

He looked away from her, feeling the hostess's presence near him. He smiled and ordered a coffee.

"Something for you, madam?" The hostess asked watching Cuddy.

Cuddy didn't move and kept to look out the window, deep in thought.

"Madam?" She called her again, trying to get her attention.

Cuddy again didn't move.

"Lisa?"

House touched her arm and Cuddy jumped slightly, turning to him and meeting his gaze and then the hostess's one.

"Uhm... sorry..." she said, shaking her head slightly.

"Would you like something to drink?" She asked again.

"No, thank you. I'm fine" she said with the hint of a smile.

Her gaze followed for a moment the walk of the hostess along the hallway, then she leaned her head against the headrest turning to look at House as he sipped his coffee.

"Want some?" He asked handing the paper cup to her.

She shook her head with the hint of a smile before resting her head on his shoulder. House looked for her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers, stroking her hand with his thumb and listening to her breathing.

He knew she wasn't asleep but that one thought kept spinning in her mind. She was an open book to him. He didn't need to ask her what she was worry about... he knew it. But he didn't want to ask her that question because... _Why?_ He didn't know _why_... Maybe because... he was afraid to admit it... but he was afraid of her answer...

He continued to stroke her hand with his thumb, fiddling with the two rings on her finger.

 _Is she really just a patient, Lisa?_ He thought continuing to tease with his finger the diamond on her engagement ring.

 _Mia_... he knew that was the name of that baby because he had heard it from her as she talked on the phone with Teddy... and a few days before as she talked to Wilson ... but yet when she talked to him, Mia was just _'my patient of the NICU'_... or... _'the baby girl I told you about'_...

To notice the signs was one of his talents... it always had been ... and that apparent indifference was not accidental... she was indifferent to that little girl... to _Mia_... but only when she talked with _him_... and _it was not accidental_...

"She could stay with us..." Cuddy said, breaking the silence and breaking House's thoughts.

"Hhhmm? What?" He asked, immediately stopping his hand from fiddling with the two rings on her ring finger.

"Addison" she said "We could host her..."

"Er... yeah..." he replied casually, quickly moving away the thought that had instead just passed in his head.

Cuddy look up at him, feeling his hesitation.

"She'll be in Princeton just a couple of days... and..."

House looked at her and nodded slightly.

"Ok" he said.

"Okay?" She asked suspiciously, looking into his eyes. "Are you serious?"

 _That had seemed a good idea to her_... Addison had told them of a work commitment in Trenton in a few weeks and it had seemed a good idea to host her during the few days in which she would stayed there... but she had changed her mind in the same instant that she had said it out loud. She wouldn't mind hosting in their house an old friend, but House hated having guests. Their house was in a sense their refuge. The only place in which they both were really themselves, without masks... No, it was definitely an awful idea!

He looked at her with a quizzical look and a slightly mischievous smile.

"Was it a trick question? Had I to say _no_?" He asked running his tongue on his lips and shaking his head slightly.

"No..." she said "but... I didn't expect you to say _yes_ " she said, looking as if she was looking at an alien. He was serious...

 _He was_ ... _past tense_ ... she noticed the glint in his eyes as sarcasm took the place of his serious look.

"In our bed there's room enough if you want a threesome" House said, raising an eyebrow "or... _you_ can sleep with Rach..." he let out a laugh, but failed to finish the sentence as he earned a slap on the chest.

"OUCH!" He laughed "I'll have to press charges on my wife for mistreatment!" He said aloud, meeting the hostess' gaze before taking Cuddy wrist and pull her to himself, giving her a chaste but long kiss on the lips.

She shot him a glare that broke into a smile as she met his gaze.

"How much do you hate me, Lisa?" He asked joking and smiling without letting her go.

" _Not_ as much as I love you" she said, laughing and looking for his lips.

...

* * *

House parked the car in the driveway in front of their house and looked at Cuddy.

"Those lights don't promise anything good" he said with a smile looking at the windows and then to his watch. Almost 11 p.m.

He opened the door and saw Cuddy roll her eyes as they could hear the music of cartoons from the TV in the living room.

"Please... don't kill the babysitter" he said in her ear, wrapping her waist with his arm and giving her a quick kiss on the lips "... she's young... _and pretty_ " he added, letting out a laugh "... she has a lifetime ahead!"

"Don't worry" Cuddy said, raising an eyebrow "I'll be too busy to kill _you_ "

House watched her as her serious expression melted into a smile and she took his face with both hand giving him another quick kiss on the lips.

Megan, the babysitter, replaced sometimes Marina, and was a twenty-years old student. Long straight brown hair and dark eyes. Black leggings, an oversized sweater that hung on one of her shoulder (letting half view of the strap of her bra) and a pair of sneakers.

"Hello, Megan" Cuddy said walking into the living room as two pairs of blue eyes appeared simultaneously from behind the back of the sofa.

"Oh... Mrs. House... I'm sorry... I know they should be in bed..." Megan said anticipating Cuddy "... but they couldn't sleep... they wanted to wait for you... and..."

Cuddy looked at her.

"It's ok..." she said unable to suppress a smile as Rachel and Grace both ran toward her screaming a _'mommyyyy"_. Two smiling little faces, so smiling as sleepy.

"God... I miss you" Cuddy said bending down to embrace them and laughing as Grace gave her one of her slobbering kisses on the cheek.

"And to me?" House asked entering the room as Rachel and Grace looked up and those four little arms left Cuddy's neck screaming a " _daddyyyy_ " and clinging to his leg.

House stroked their back and gave them a kiss on the head then messing Rachel's hair with one hand .

"Okay, _you little monsters_ " he said, smiling, taking Grace in his arms and taking then Rachel's hand "Now it's really time for bed"

Cuddy took a few bills from her purse and greeted Megan before following House in the bedroom.

"Is there room even for me?" She asked with a smile seeing Rachel and Grace under the sheets in the middle of their bed.

"I don't know, Cuddy..." House replied "What do you think Rach? Is there room enough for Mom's _big butt_?" He asked, looking as she nodded with a big smile and then looked at her mother.

Cuddy shook her head glaring at House as she went under the sheets, kissing instead Rachel's hair.

"... My big butt is going to remember it tomorrow night, _darling_ " she said glaring at him again, this time with a slightly mischievous look.

House smiled holding her gaze but reaching out for her, giving her a little spank on one buttock. Cuddy smiled as he leaned over her to kiss her lightly on the lips whispering a _goodnight,_ before kissing the forehead of the two little girls curled up between them, closing his eyes and relaxing in the warmth of the small body clung to his.

"Greg ..." Cuddy whispered, reaching out for him and looking for his hand that was stroking Rachel's back.

"Hhhmm?" He said without opening his eyes.

"It's good to be at home" she said lacing her fingers with his.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else" he said back.


	21. Big Bang Theory

Thank you very much to who of you called me a talented writer! I really blushed! "Talented" I don' know... but I love to write these stories and I do my best ;)

Back to us... Someone asked for more Huddy family? Here it is! And... er... as always not just Huddy _family_! ;) Enjoy!

* * *

 **...**

 **CHAPTER 21 - Big Bang Theory**

 **...**

* * *

Cuddy walked into the kitchen and looked at Rachel as she arranged her Choco Balls on the table all around her cup.

"Honey, don't play with your cereals" she said, stroking her head and looking at Grace sitting on her highchair, which in turn was playing with her spoon. House had already desisted from her to eat what was left of her breakfast.

"There're not cereals, Mom, they're planets" she said, smiling putting on the table the last little ball and admiring her _masterpiece_.

House took a sip of his coffee and put the cup on the table while Cuddy rested her hands on his shoulders and bent to kiss him on the cheek.

"Astronomy Week" House said smiling as Cuddy nodded and smiled back, before turning to pour herself a cup of coffee.

Stars and planets... those have been the new Rachel's passion for about ten days. Since House had glued phosphorescent little stars that shone in the dark on her bedroom ceiling. Not random arranged, like any other parent would have done in the bedroom of a 5-years old girl... but meticulously arranged to form the various constellations of the northern hemisphere. _The Great Bear. The Little Bear. Cassiopeia. Orion._

Grace reached out her hand to catch one of the cereal balls and quickly put it into her mouth.

"No! Gracie!" Rachel yelled glaring at her little sister.

Cuddy turned quickly almost spilling her coffee.

"What's up?" She said, looking at Rachel and then at House as he laughed.

"Mommyyyy..." She said with a half-angry half-teary look "Gracie has eaten _Yuppie_ "

Cuddy bit her lip holding back a smile as she glanced at House and look back at Rachel's eyes.

" _Jupiter_ , Honey" she said stroking her hair.

"It found a _black hole_ , Rach!" House said laughing, watching Grace as she tried to reach another _planet_.

Cuddy laughed in turn.

" _This black hole_ doesn't want to eat her oatmeal, though!" She said, looking at House and trying to spoon-feed Grace as instead she turned her head away, keeping her mouth closed.

"I wouldn't eat it either, Lisa" House said smiling looking into her eyes as she couldn't hold back a laugh. "It looks like..."

"Space puke" Rachel said finishing that sentence in his place, without looking up from her cup.

"Would _you two_ stop to team up against me, please?" Cuddy said, unable to hold back a laugh as she took Grace from her highchair and glanced at House "C'mon, eat your planets, Honey... it's late" she said, looking at Rachel and then again at House, shaking her head slightly.

...

* * *

"Hey" House said, opening the door of Cuddy's office and tucking his head inside "Are you alone?" he asked with a slightly mischievous look without waiting for her answer as he entered.

Cuddy held his gaze but smiled.

"Yes. Just...ignore the lover under my desk!" She said running her tongue over her lips "... but next time you have to give me a little more time before entering, _House_ " she said smiling, glancing at him, in turn with a vaguely mischievous look.

"It depends on who _the lover_ is, Cuddy!" House laughed "That _half- investigator_ you dated wouldn't be able to find your _G-spot_ even with a map" he said looking into her eyes.

She laughed, shaking her head slightly.

"Good thing that he was a friend of yours!" She said, looking as he walked behind her and started massaging her back, bending down to kiss the side of her neck.

Cuddy tilted back her head for a moment, closing her eyes and savoring that kiss.

" _He was_ " he whispered on her skin "Before invading _my_ territory" he added, sucking behind her ear.

Cuddy suppressed a moan as she felt her cheeks blush and a chill ran down her spine.

"Stop..." she whispered, stroking his stubble, feeling his smile on her own skin.

"Come for lunch?" He asked, giving her another kiss on the neck.

Cuddy turned her head to meet his gaze.

"What? Jimmy dumped you?" She asked, standing up and looking into his eyes with a raised eyebrow.

"He's out with Teddy. Apparently _she_ has _something_ I _don't_ have" he replied with a mischievous look.

Cuddy smiled, lightly shaking her head and putting her arms around his neck as he wrapped her waist with both hands.

"I don't like to be your second choice, House" she said, looking straight into his eyes.

 _God, you can have me do everything if you look at me like that, Lisa..._ House thought still looking into her eyes.

"You've never been" he answered while the blue of his eyes melted with the gray-blue of hers and he put an arm around her waist pulling her closer "And you'll never be" he added, looking for her lips.

...

* * *

House looked up from his patient's folder sensing a presence on his office door and met Cuddy's gaze. Her leather bag in one hand and the blue trench coat resting on her forearm.

"I'm going home" She said with the hint of a smile "Will you be late?"

"I don't know..." he replied "I'm waiting for some tests" he said taking off his glasses "Tell to _my little astronaut_ that I'm sorry and we'll play tomorrow, ok?" He added.

Cuddy nodded and smiled, approaching his desk and leaning over, kissing him gently on the lips.

"See you later" she whispered with a smile on his lips.

House looked at her as she turned to walk out of his office, running a hand through her hair.

"How's the baby girl?" He asked watching her as she suddenly stopped in the doorway and turned around looking at him with a questioning look.

"The baby girl..." he said again, looking into her eyes "Mia."

"Mia?" she repeated.

 _What? House couldn't even remember the name of the patient whose folder was in his hands at that right moment and because of whom he would be home late that night... but he remembered... Mia...?_

Cuddy quickly sought in her mind... how did he know her name? She had never told him of her using her first name...

House continued to stare at her before answering the unspoken question that could read in her eyes.

"It's her name, right? ... Mia ..." he said "I was with you when Teddy called you after lunch"

Cuddy nodded, trying to conceal the strange feeling that that name pronounced by his voice gave her.

"Er... she's stationary... the fever isn't high ... no leukocytosis, just high ESR and C-RP" she replied, staying as professional as possible "According to Dr. Miller it's just a viral form of her upper airways... but she can't be undergone to surgery until she doesn't get better"

House nodded, weighing her answer and couldn't help but noticing the almost imperceptible trace of worry in her voice. _Almost imperceptible_. For everyone. _Not for him_. She was good at being professional, to conceal her emotions... and it worked... with all her employees. _All but one_.

"Dr. Miller is the blonde-haired, long-legged and cute-butted thirty-years-old of Pediatrics?" He asked, raising an eyebrow with a mischievous smile intentionally forcing her to think about something else.

"No..." she said approaching him and resting her hands on his desk, leaning on him "Dr. Miller is a raven-haired, short and strong thirty-years-old, _House_ " she said, looking straight into his eyes failing to suppress a smile "From now on, _that_ is going to be the _new standard_ of my hospital "she said looking at him with a mischievous look "I won't accept resumes from who doesn't comply with this _standard_ " she said, smiling, an inch from his lips.

House smiled looking at her lips before looking again at her eyes.

"So you want to be the only star shining in _this universe of yours_ , Cuddy..." he whispered on her lips.

She laughed, but didn't answer, however, closing the distance between them and brushing his lips with her tongue sucking lightly on his lower lip.

"Don't be late..." she whispered on his lips in a persuasive tone, looking slyly into his eyes as the warmth of her breath sent a shiver down his spine.

...

* * *

Cuddy felt his hand slide down her body and smiled, but didn't open her eyes and stayed motionless, just savoring that feeling mingled with the torpor of sleep. She could already feel his growing erection against her butt as he spooned her and began to kiss the side of her neck.

"You know you can't sleep naked next to me, right?" He whispered in her ear as he moved his hand over her breast, feeling her nipples responding to his touch.

Cuddy smiled but again didn't move, just letting him to continue to touch her.

"And I know you're not asleep" he whispered again, sucking the skin of her neck as a little moan escaped her lips.

Cuddy smiled again, but didn't open her eyes and didn't move. House saw her smile and smiled in turn, kissing her neck again and then sucking behind her ear while another _hhhmmm_ escaped from her lips.

"Let's see if I can wake you..." he whispered in her ear before disappearing under the sheets.

He felt her arch her back as soon as he sucked on her breast then drawing a row of kisses on her belly and moving down, stroking her with his hand before spreading her legs and touch her with his lips.

He felt her shiver and smiled, brushing her with his tongue as she couldn't hold back a long sigh. She moved her pelvis back as if her still partially asleep body involuntarily wanted to escape that feeling, but House held her in place with one hand and heard her sigh even more as she arched her back this time pushing her pelvis toward his mouth.

If she weren't had been already excited, certainly now she was.

His left hand kept massaging her breasts, occasionally lingering on torturing one of her nipples... his mouth kept moving on her most intimate part leaving unexplored not even an inch of her. And his right hand gave her the final stroke. He moved the hand that hold in place her pelvis between her legs and touched her with his fingers. Just a moment ... before entering her deeply with two fingers, making her almost scream as she push harder her pelvis toward his mouth.

She felt completely at his mercy... she could die there at that very moment and she wouldn't mind... her mind focused only on the extreme pleasure that his hands and mouth were giving her.

House moved blindly on her face the hand that was on her breast caressing her cheek and lips. Cuddy looked for his hand with hers and took it to her mouth, kissing his palm and then entwining her fingers with his.

She felt like she was going to explode... but she wanted more... she wanted _him_...

She squeezed his hand and House moved on top of her, emerging from under the sheets and looking into her eyes as she smiled slightly and looked for his lips.

"Oh God..." she moaned with the hint of a smile as her most intimate part continued to throb, so close to that orgasm that pleasure was almost painful.

"Not sleeping anymore?" He whispered mischievously on her lips.

"Definitely not..." she said looking for his lips and letting his tongue explore her mouth.

She continued to stroke his back as they kissed. He held her face with one hand as his other hand stroked her thigh and leg.

She could feel his erection pressing against her entrance. Just a little push would be enough to penetrate her, but she knew he was enjoying that moment and prolonging their pleasure. He liked to dwell on that pleasure rubbing himself on her and letting her sex to caress his length. She could clearly feel how hard he was, and he how wet she was... and that feeling _drove them both crazy._

Cuddy was still surprised, after three years, about the thoughts that passed through her mind since she was with him. Some very little _ladylike_ thoughts... but at that moment her body was so lost in their lovemaking that her mind couldn't help but think of his shaft between her legs... and she wanted only two things... to suck it... or to feel it deep inside her...

"God... I love you" she whispered taking his face with both hands and kissing him deeply on the mouth.

He entered her as she kissed him and he felt her tongue stopping for a moment in his mouth as she held her breath and moaned into his mouth before kissing him again.

Their bodies moved at the same pace of their tongues... slowly at first and then speeding the pace.

House met her eyes for a moment as he thrust again deeply inside her, making her close her eyes and tilt back her head for the pleasure.

She took his face with both hands and looked into his eyes. His forehead on hers, panting and sweaty. She smiled and he smiled back seeing her closing her eyes again as he thrust stronger inside her.

They both would have wanted the world to stop at that moment. No hospital. No conventions... no meetings... no phone calls. No babysitter to call. No days to organize. Nothing at all. Just two bodies getting lost in each other.

Cuddy immediately recognized that feeling inside her as her legs began to tremble. She had had many orgasms in her life, but since they were together they were _different._.. she had never felt so _alive_... as if she had started to really live only since she was with him... there were no words to describe how she felt when they made love. As if all the energy of that pleasure was first enclosed in a tiny atom and suddenly exploded spreading inside her in indescribable pleasure waves causing her to lose control completely. She knew she didn't have to scream... that the walls of their bedroom were not thick enough to preserve their privacy... but she couldn't help it. House felt her walls tighten around him as she couldn't hold back her screams of pleasure and he came with her, stifling her moaning with his mouth before collapsing on her, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

Cuddy heard him laugh as she stroke his neck.

"What's?" She asked smiling.

"I don't know how they can stay asleep, Cuddy" he said looking into her eyes, laughing, referring to Rachel and Grace who slept in the next bedroom.

"Oh God..." she said, covering her eyes but laughing, before looking into his eyes, biting her lip imperceptibly "That's on you..." she said, laughing, looking for his lips for a brief kiss "God... it has ... it has been incredible... " she added, still smiling, putting a hand on her stomach. She could still feel her most intimate part throbbing.

"It's always incredible..." he said, smiling mischievously.

She smiled again and nodded.

"But... sometimes... even more incredible" she said, laughing.

"I don't know... I can't explain it in words..."she added, reading his question in his eyes "It's like... you know the Big Bang theory?" she asked.

He looked at her smiling.

"I have a Physics Bachelor, remember?" He laughed.

"Yeah..." she said, laughing and nodding "... well... if it isn't true for the origin of the universe... it's the perfect description of how I feel when we make love" she said, smiling and biting her lip.

House smiled and kissed her on the mouth savoring the warmth of her tongue. And as an analysis maniac like he was, he couldn't fail to notice that _'when we make love'_. Perhaps unconsciously. Or maybe not. But, she hadn't said... _'it's the perfect description of how I feel during an orgasm'_... she had deliberately said... ' _'it's the perfect description of how I feel when we make love'_ ...

House smiled and stroked her cheek, looking into her eyes.

He still wondered how much he loved her. How strong his feelings for her were. _You are my universe, Lisa_... he thought as she looked at her. _The day of the Big Bang._ _The only day without a yesterday_. And he himself was surprised of the words that escaped from his mouth.

" _You_ are my day without a yesterday" he whispered on her lips, looking at her as a smile appeared on her lips before she looked again for his mouth for a long kiss.


	22. Mia

Hello again! I'm sorry, Cloe2007... I didn't put a "Daddy Day" in this fic but... who knows... maybe in the next one ;) And I'm sure enough you'll love the moments between House and his _kids_ ;)

* * *

 **...**

 **CHAPTER 22 - Mia**

 **...**

* * *

"HOUSE!" She shouted walking into the differential room, glancing to House with an exasperated gaze and making both Taub and Chase to give a start as Chase nearly spilled the coffee in his hand.

House was sitting on one of the chairs with his legs stretched out on the glass table, with crossed arms, his head tilted back on the backrest and a magazine covering his face.

"I'm not paying _you_ to sleep!" She said looking at all of them, and removing the magazine from the face of her husband throwing it on the table "You had to be in the Clinic an hour ago!" She said in the same tone looking at House.

"If you don't want me to sleep _here_ , you should let me sleep at night, _Sweetheart_ " House said, raising an eyebrow.

Cuddy glared at him and moved with an abrupt gesture his legs from the table, before crossing her arms and look at him straight in the eyes.

"Don't worry, _Sweetheart_ " she replied sharply focusing on the _'sweetheart'_ thing "Sleeping will be the last thing you'll miss in the coming days"

House looked at her and let out a laugh.

" _Days_?" He said, mischievously looking at her with a challenge look running his tongue over his lips.

She didn't get perturbed and held his gaze. With a serious look.

"Careful! Or they'll be _months_ " She said.

House looked at her and shook his head slightly hinting a smile. He could feel the tension between them. That sort of electricity that have been typical of their arguing for years. Sexual tension. Foreplay. The look in her eyes was enough to trigger a reaction in his groin. So annoying as _exciting_... If they were alone it wouldn't been _months_... it would have been barely _seconds_...

But they weren't alone... And he couldn't win that battle. She would never give up... not in front of his team. He looked away and glanced to his team before standing up making her stepping back, and looking into her eyes.

"Convincing argument, _Dr. Cuddy_!" He said in a serious tone slightly bending over her, before taking his cane and leaving the room without looking back.

Cuddy's eyes followed him as he walked down the hallway. She glanced back to the team before exiting the room in turn.

She looked at him as he walked into the elevator and pressed the button, but she didn't speed her pace as she met his gaze and the door began to slide close. She continued to look at him as he disappeared behind the elevator door, failing to prevent the anger of the boss mingled with the apprehension of the wife. She hated to impose her authority with her husband. She hated to hurt his pride... but generally he didn't leave her any choice. At work she was the _boss_. Yet she couldn't help but feeling simultaneously guilty... _Cuddy against Lisa_.

The tip of House's cane slipped between the door and the wall preventing it from closing. His way to offer her _a peace sign_.

Cuddy slightly bit her lip and smiled, meeting his smile as the door reopened and she walked into with him.

"Do you grant me an _amnesty_?" He asked looking into her eyes.

Cuddy smiled and laced her fingers with his as she put her other hand behind his neck, forcing him to bend his head and rising on tiptoe to kiss him.

A sweet kiss. Just lips on lips. But she didn't pulled away immediately, lingering to savor the feeling of his lips on hers. And of his eyes on hers. Blue lost in blue.

"I take this as a _yes_ " he whispered, smiling still brushing her lips.

He couldn't help but notice her pupils dilating just to the warmth of his breath and he smiled more, touching her lips with his tongue and slightly sucking her lower lip.

"Don't make promises you can't keep!" He said on her lips, teasing her.

She laughed, but didn't answer, still lingering instead on his lips and stroking his neck with her hand.

"Admit it!" He said, smiling again, teasing her lip and pulling her closer to him "You'd make love to me even right now, _Sweetheart_ " he said, emphasizing again ironically that _Sweetheart._

"I always want to make love with you... _Sweetheart_ " she replied smiling mischievously at him and lightly touching his lips, just before unwillingly pulling away from him as the elevator slowed and the door reopened.

They entered together into the Clinic and Cuddy stopped to sign some documents by the nurses' counter as House distractedly leafed through the folders of the patients. A cold. A stomach ache. An ankle sprain. A child who put an object into his nose. Apparently the _most serious_ case was the one of _an idiot_ who had rubbed his face with a homemade pseudo-lotion made of _very natural_ fig milk, causing himself a first-degree burn on face, neck and hands.

"Remind me how I went from being a brilliant diagnostician with a hundreds of publications _on the American Journal of Infectious Diseases_ to... _this_?" He said looking into her eyes.

Cuddy didn't answer, but smiled and shook her head slightly before her cell attracted her attention.

"Dr. Cuddy" She said still looking at him and listening at the same time to the voice on the other end of the receiver.

House saw her look change as she swallowed hard before saying an _"I'm on my way"_

"What happens?" He asked looking at her as she stared at the phone in her hand even after having hung up.

"Come with me" she said looking into his eyes and biting her lip slightly, deeply breathing in.

...

* * *

House followed her without saying a word and looked at her out of the corner of his eye as she stared at the closed elevator door. The tension lingering in the air was now completely different from the one that had impregnated the air of that same elevator just less than ten minutes before.

She took a slow, deep breath. She felt as if she couldn't breathe. As if the walls of that elevator clung her all around.

It wasn't the first time that Cuddy felt like that, but now it was totally unjustified. Unjustified for her mind. Not for her heart.

She looked at the door as it opened on the third floor hallway and hurried out of the elevator. House followed her still without saying anything. He didn't need to ask _where_ they were going. Or rather... _to whom._

She met Dr. Miller's gaze but her eyes immediately focused on the child before returning to look at Dr. Miller.

 _Tiny. Pale. Cyanotic_. _Rib retractions_ , sign of her breathing effort.

A look. A fraction of a second. And her heart began to pound into her chest so hard that she almost feared that who was there could hear it. Her rational and irrational side clashed like two trucks on the highway. Impossible to figure out which of them would prevail. _'Lisa, breathe'_ she said to herself as she could feel the unmistakable tingling in her fingers and hands of an impending anxiety attack. _'Keep calm...'_ she repeated to herself ... _'C'mon Lisa, not right now... please... not right now...'_

She tried to banish from her mind the image of Mia and stared at Dr. Miller. _'Please, say something... '_ she thought still staring at her, full aware that she couldn't hide the tremor in her voice if she had to speak first.

"She has a severe respiratory failure" Dr. Miller said looking at her and then at House, behind her.

"Her condition suddenly got worse" she continued "... with a sudden tachypnea, dyspnea, hypoxemia, cyanosis... she's on oxygen, but oxygen saturation is still low..."

Cuddy looked again at Mia, just for a moment, while her concern turned to anger.

 _Purple lips and nails. Her little chest rising and falling rapidly._

"Yesterday you thought it was just an insignificant viral infection" she said regaining her bossy tone, even if sharper than she wanted.

"In most cases bronchiolitis _is viral_ " Dr. Miller said, staring at her.

"But it's not _insignificant_!" Cuddy replied in the same sharp tone raising her voice "She's premature! She has a heart defect! _These_ are risk factors you _had to_ take on board!" She paused, giving her a dirty look as she slowly pronounced every word.

"I don't meddle in _my employees'_ job" she said, still staring at her "When they CAN do it!" She added. Her tone was firm, without any trace of the tremor and vulnerability of a few moments before.

She still stared at Dr. Miller for a few moments... a few moments that to the young doctor seemed endless... then she turned to the nurse.

"I want to see her folder. Her tests and chest X-ray." She said firmly while the nurse just nodded.

She took a stethoscope and placed it on Mia's chest, closing her eyes and tightening her lips as she auscultated her.

"My God..." she whispered before open her eyes and watch to the nurse as she handed her the folder.

She looked at the X-ray and handed it to House.

"The case is yours" she said in what that to everyone might have seemed her bossy tone.

It wasn't a case for him ... bronchiolitis was really usually viral, probably due to Respiratory Syncytial Virus... She knew it and he knew it too. However... House offered no resistance.

The tone of her voice was her _bossy_ tone. Her eyes _not_.

House looked at her again before looking again at Mia's x-ray.

"Pneumonia is a probable complication in her condition" he said, without looking up from the folder "I'm going to put her on _ribavirin_ "

 _..._

* * *

Cuddy walked down the hallway of the third floor for the umpteenth time on those two days, since House was working on Mia's case... The baby girl had improved at the beginning, but during the night her condition was rather worsened again.

She'd have wanted to go to see her as soon as she had arrived at the hospital that morning, but instead she had been involved in an exhausting series of meetings. She hadn't even had time to call House for lunch, but now she had to see her. She needed to see Mia. She would have gone in House's office later.

She suddenly stopped in the hallway. What she saw through the window caught her unprepared. The last thing she expected to see was _him_ next to that crib.

And not just next to the crib. Cuddy's heart skipped a beat and for a moment she wanted not to be there... not invade his space.

He was sitting in the chair next to the crib. But Mia wasn't in her crib. She was in his arms. Asleep. Her tiny fist wrapped around his forefinger.

House sensed her presence but didn't move.

"I'm going to deny it to death" he said without looking up, still looking at Mia's hand clenched around his finger.

Cuddy smiled but said nothing as she looked at him. His mouth wasn't smiling. His eyes _did._

She approached still looking at them.

"You never see your patients" she said, lightly brushing one of Mia's little feet.

"She doesn't talk ... doesn't lie..." he said, looking up at her "It's the kind of patient I prefer" He said "These ones. And the ones in a coma" he added with the hint of a smile.

Cuddy nodded, lightly smiling in turn.

"And... since when do you hold them in your arms instead?" She asked, biting almost imperceptibly her lower lip.

House hesitated.

"She struggles to breathe" he said "Don't ask me why... but in this way she breathes better"

Cuddy looked at him and took Mia's folder.

"Have you repeated her x-ray?" She asked. Actually a rhetorical question. She already knew the answer because the image she was looking at wasn't the same one of two days earlier.

"It's an interstitial pneumonia" House said.

Cuddy nodded.

"Do you think it's viral?" She asked "A complication of bronchiolitis?"

"Ribavirin isn't working" he said, standing up to put Mia into her crib.

"An interstitial infiltrate can be viral or by Legionella...er... Mycoplasma...or..." Cuddy said, looking at him.

House nodded as he gently leaned the child on the mattress trying to avoid waking her up. It didn't last even one second. Mia immediately felt she was no longer in his arms and open her big dark eyes wide, staring at him.

Cuddy couldn't suppress a laugh as he turned to look at her.

"Where did I already see this?" He asked her smiling and shaking his head slightly.

Cuddy smiled thinking back to how many times Grace had done the same. Apparently peacefully asleep in his arms, but she immediately woke up as soon as he tried to put her back in her crib.

" _The altimeter_ is a standard equipment" he said still smiling, looking at Cuddy and then again at Mia.

She looked at him with her big dark eyes. She didn't cry... she just stared at him.

"Her mother..." he suddenly said, still watching Mia's eyes "... what do we know about her?" He said, turning toward Cuddy.

Cuddy looked at him with a questioning look.

"We assumed she got the infection here, in the hospital..." House continued, looking into her eyes.

"Are you thinking about an infection passed her down by her mother?" Cuddy asked before thinking about what were the information she had about that woman "Um... seventeen years old... she gave birth here, two months before the due date, and she's gone... I don't know anything else... "

"A seventeen years old that gives birth to her daughter and just disappears..." House said looking into her eyes "... She probably was alone, without a family support... She didn't think about giving her up for adoption... she just disappeared, leaving her here. She maybe had a wild life... and this baby is probably just the unexpected and unpleased gift of one of the many nights of sex... "

"A venereal disease..." Cuddy said considering his words and searching in her mind a pathogen responsible for a probably asymptomatic infection in the mother that could explain at the same time those symptoms in the baby a few weeks later.

 _Syphilis... gonorrhea..._ Cuddy thought, however, discarding them one by one as she continued to look at House.

"She had a preterm delivery..." Cuddy said as a flash appeared in her eyes and met the same gleam House's eyes "It's Chlamydia" she exclaimed, as if she had had a revelation...

"Chlamydia Trachomatis" House specified still staring at her "Infection of the cervix. Asymptomatic in the mother. But... the baby got infected during birth. Another gift for her by her mother."

"She didn't have conjunctivitis..." Cuddy said, watching Mia's beautiful big eyes.

"And that's why we didn't think about Chlamydia before, Cuddy" House said looking in turn to Mia's eyes "She needs erythromycin" he said touching her arm and then leaving the room.

Cuddy followed him with her eyes and turned to Mia, stroking her cheek.

"You'll be fine, baby" she whispered with the hint of a smile.


	23. So now what?

_Another "so know what?" for our Huddy couple._

* * *

 **...**

 **CHAPTER 23** - **So now what?**

 **...**

* * *

An extra meeting of the Board. _'Perfect! Exactly what I need right now...'_ she thought as she hung up.

She looked at Mia and smiled, before closing her folder. She was better. Definitely better. A few days... a week at most and she could be undergone to surgery.

 _And then?_

A shadow darkened her eyes for a moment as that thought passed through her mind. She slowly shook her head and rubbed her neck as if to dismiss that thought and stroked Mia's tiny foot before leaving the room.

...

* * *

Wilson watched Cuddy as the other members of the Board left the room one by one. Standing as she collected the documents on the table in front of her. Apparently unmoved and composed. But not to a friend's eyes.

"Lisa?" He said, touching her arm to make her looking up at him.

She didn't move but took a deep breath, suddenly feeling her defense walls collapse destructively around her. She felt her hands begin to tremble and clenched them into fists on the table trying to hide her vulnerability, but as soon as her legs began to tremble too all she could do was let herself slump into the chair, then burying her face in her hands as tears appeared in her eyes.

Wilson looked at her, feeling utterly helpless. His vote hadn't been of help. The Board had been clear. The majority had decided that _'It wasn't worth to undergo the child to the surgery"._ Her condition was too unstable. Social Services would have proceeded to give her up for adoption and her new family would take care of her and her health. It was not a problem of the hospital. Not anymore. And Wells had told her that openly...

 _"You are too involved, Lisa... it's normal... with what you've been through."_

Those words still echoed in her head.

 _When_ had she lost the trust of the Board?

Her life had fallen apart after she had lost her son. Her relationship with House had been to one step from the depths. But never... not even for a second... she had let her feelings going out in the hospital. Her grief had never affected her professional decisions or her work.

 _"My baby's death has nothing to do with this, Safford"_ She had replied, looking into his eyes with a so cold and aloof tone that Wilson himself had struggled to recognize her _"Yes, I'm involved... and you should be too. I'm involved because I'm a human being... and a mother... "_ she said looking at all of them one by one _" ... I spend my days looking for funding for this hospital focusing on humanity and benevolence of donors... "_

She had paused, watching them all one by one.

 _"What is it? Have I to ask them to have the compassion we don't have?"_ She asked, knowing that she wouldn't have any answer to that rhetorical question _"... that surgery would cost to this hospital less than what it cost to decorate the hospital for Christmas last year ... and..."_ she laughed, shaking her head... a bitter laugh... _"three-quarters of us... the same people who voted for those Christmas decorations... are Jews..."_ she said, slightly shaking her head again.

But her argument hadn't been enough.

The Board had decided. The Board had voted. And Mia wasn't an interest of the hospital. Not anymore.

Wilson paused a moment before putting a hand on her shoulder, caressing her lightly.

Cuddy put her hand on the Wilson's and turned her head toward him.

"I'm fine" she whispered trying to give him the hint of a smile, that didn't appear on her lips.

Wilson looked at her still keeping his hand on her shoulder. He could feel again her fragility. Like that day when he had talked to her two months after the loss of the baby... like that day in her office, several years before, when House had told her she didn't deserve to be a mother...

"You could pay for her surgery, Lisa" he said gently squeezing her shoulder.

Cuddy smiled lightly and shook her head slightly.

"I know I could..." she said "but... maybe Wells is right... I got involved too much..."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing, Lisa"

Cuddy stayed silent for a moment.

"I've had hundreds of patients like her, James..." she said without looking at him... her voice just a whisper "Why should it be different this time...?"

Wilson shook his head and smiled.

"Lisa, you're talking to a guy who gave half of his liver to a fake-friend..." he said making her smile and nod slightly.

"And you wouldn't do it again..." Cuddy said, this time turning her head to meet his gaze.

"No, I wouldn't... but... it's different..."

"I don't know, James..." she said, looking down again "... she reminds me of Rachel... she reminds me of Grace... she reminds me of Jess... I don't really know what I feel for her..."

"Yes, you do..." he said "... but you're afraid to admit it and... she's sick... and you're afraid of losing her... like you lost Jess..." he added, aware of how much those words touched extremely painful strings of her heart "... you should talk to House..."

Cuddy shook her head.

"We have already lost a kid, Wilson, I can't get him involved in something that can drag us down again ... I couldn't stand it again, and probably he couldn't too..."

...

* * *

 _"We have already lost a kid, Wilson, I can't get him involved in something that can drag us down again ... I couldn't stand it again, and probably he couldn't too..."_

Those Cuddy's words continued to echo in his mind. He had promised her not to say anything to House. He couldn't betray her trust, but... _you can break a promise for a good cause, right?_ He thought as he looked at the papers on his desk.

...

* * *

House was in bed, leaning back against the headboard, his glasses on the nose. A thoughtful look focused on the medical article he was reading.

Cuddy took off her robe and put it on the armchair by the window before moving the sheets and slip under them.

She looked at House for a moment as if to say something, but the only word that came from her lips was _'goodnight'._

House turned to her, taking off his glasses and closing the magazine.

"I heard that Mia won't be undergone to the surgery" he said, as he can't help but noticing the impact of those words on her.

She nodded slowly, lightly biting her lip.

"I talked to the Social worker this afternoon ..." she said as she struggled to hold his gaze "She said there's probably already a family who could take her in custody"

"And... isn't this a good news?" House asked looking at her and studying her reaction to that question.

"Yes... of course it is... it's just..." she looked down, leaving the sentence hanging.

He watched her bite her lip, and he knew that she was struggling to hold back tears.

"... Er... maybe Wells is right..." she said softly, shaking her head and avoiding to look up at him "... I'm too involved..."

 _Sure you are ..._ House wanted to reply, but instead he said nothing, and let her go on...

"It's just that... I'm not totally objective with her... I can't treat her like any other patient..."

"Because she isn't..." House said letting escape loud what he wanted only to think.

Cuddy said nothing and House continued to look at her.

 _Don't say it! Don't even think about saying out loud what you're thinking, you idiot!_ House repeated to himself in his head. But he can't help it. He had to know.

"Because you love her? ... Or because you see in her the kid we haven't had?

Cuddy glared at him. And House immediately regretted that question. He saw grief mingle with anger in her eyes.

"Why does everyone keep asking me this same question?" She said, raising her voice slightly and shaking her head.

"I know... I know she's not our baby..." she said unable to hide the exasperation in her voice "... I wish she were..." she said as her voice shook, and those last four words escaped from her lips ...

 _..._ _I wish she were..._ House repeated in his mind... _that she were Jess? or ... that she were ours, Lisa?_

"... God ..." she continued "... I just want her to be fine, Greg ... to be happy... to have a Mom who loves her like..."

She exitated...

She wanted to say... _to have a Mom who loves her like I do..._ But she just said...

"I just want her to have a Mom who loves her like... _she deserves_..."

House looked at her and reached out his arm toward her pulling her to himself and making her rest her head on his chest.

A multitude of words spun into his mind... but no one find the way to his lips... and he stayed silent, stroking her hair and back while he felt her gradually relax in his arms.


	24. The seeds of suspition - Part 1

Not always all sunshine and rainbows...

* * *

 **...**

 **CHAPTER 24 - The seeds of suspition - Part 1**

 **...**

* * *

"Hey" Wilson greeted him, stealing a French fry from his plate "Where's your _beloved_ , House?" He asked as he sat down in front of him.

"Who knows..." he replied taking in turn a French fry and bringing it to his mouth.

"Is everything ok?" He asked noticing the sarcasm in his voice mixed to something that he couldn't decipher.

"Except that we're not having sex for more than a week?" House replied seriously staring at his friend.

"This is something I don't want to know, House!" He said, raising a hand to stop him from adding details. The image of the _naked_ Cuddy that just appeared in his mind was enough to make him blush.

"You asked me if it's all right. Don't ask if you don't want to hear the answer, Jimmy!" House said, still staring at him.

"Don't dramatize everything as usual! A week isn't an eternity, House!" Wilson said, lowering his voice, however, watching the plate of fries and not House.

"For you!" He replied staring unblinking at his friend "And I'm sorry for Teddy, then!"

Wilson raised his hand again to stop him to say more, shaking his head slightly.

...

* * *

"Dr. House!" Cuddy called walking into the room where House was arguing with the husband of his patient "In my office!" She said in her bossy tone looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Dr. Cuddy!" House replied, looking at her with a exasperated look "You can't let this idiot..."

She silenced him raising a hand and looked at the patient's husband "I'm sorry for what happened, Mr. Jones. Dr. Wilson will come later to talk with you. We'll endeavor to respect the will of you and your wife" she said watching him as he nodded.

House followed her down the hallway before taking her arm and force her to turn around and look at him.

"You can't do it!" He said, in a loud voice, staring at her oblivious of the looks that their argue drew on them.

"It's not my decision, House!" she said quietly holding his gaze "Nor yours! And even if she really were _unfit to plead_ as you think... he's her husband. He's in charge." She said turning as he took her arm again.

"He's an idiot. And you want to let her die because she get married to an idiot?" He asked, raising his voice again.

"Listen ..." She repeated still looking into his eyes "I know it's hard for you to understand, but she has made her choice. And he respects that choice. It is... _respect_ , House. It's not up to you to judge them!"

House glared at her.

"I can not understand..." he said weighing those four words "Are you really convinced of this, aren't you?"

Cuddy shook her head, looking into his eyes.

"What are you talking about...?" She asked.

House held her gaze without answering, just staring at her.

"You would have done the same choice!" He said, looking straight into her eyes.

Cuddy's eyes widened and she put a hand on her forehead.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She said looking at him with a half-exasperated half-irritated look "Are you asking me if in their situation I would have chosen between my baby and my husband?" She asked him "How can I answer you?" She added, looking away "What I know is that radiotherapy could reduce her abdominal mass, _maybe_ allowing us to remove the mass... _Maybe_ , House... so, _maybe,_ it would allow her to increase her life expectancy."

"Not _maybe_... probably" House pointed out.

"Fine... _probably._ " She said, looking into his eyes "So _probably_ how long is she going to live? How long, House? Three years? Five? Maybe less..."

"Five years in which they will be together" House said, looking into her eyes.

Cuddy bowed her head, closing her eyes for a moment and then looked up at him again.

"Five years in which ... every day... _every_ ... she'll think to her unborn child, House" she said, biting her lip "Do you want to know what will happen?" She said with a so piercing gaze that House could feel the electricity that look sent him " _Choice number one_ : She agreed with you... she'll undergo radiotherapy, then surgery and then chemotherapy... her baby won't survive... yes, House, twenty-one weeks, like our baby... and it won't survive... and five years from now she will be dead... her husband will weep on her grave and he will be alone" she said, taking a deep breath before speaking again "Or _choice number two_ ... no radiation, no surgery... in three months their son's lungs will be sufficiently developed to enable him to survive without any risk and they will stay together... I don't know... six months... a year... as long as God is going to allow it... " she said not looking away " ... and... yes... she will die. We all die sooner or later. It's the only certainty we have in life! ... But in five years... that child will blow out its five candles... and then six... and seven... and it will go to College... and it will be there for Thanksgiving... and for Hanukkah or Christmas... she will be dead, but he won't be alone... "

She swallowed as she looked into his eyes.

"They're not idiot. And even if it seems incomprehensible to you... she doesn't take this choice because she doesn't love him... or because she loves her baby more than him... she's taking this choice because she loves him, so much to sacrifice her life for him" she said looking at his hand as he loosened his grip on her arm.

House looked at her but said nothing as Cuddy's hand removed his hand from her arm.

"Stay away from them!" She said regaining again her authoritarian _bossy_ tone "You aren't the one who have to take that choice!" She added before walking away down the hallway.

...

* * *

"Lisa"

"Hi, Teddy" She greeted her motioning her to sit at the table with her.

Teddy put her tray on the table and sat down.

"In Seattle, the cafeteria was awful" She said, swallowing and looking at her salad as she took a tomato with her fork "On the contrary, this salad is so good that it doesn't seem at all of a hospital cafeteria" she said, looking at Cuddy which in turn took a forkful of salad and champignons.

Cuddy nodded and smiled.

"Do you know the _Artemisia's_?" She asked "It's a new vegetarian restaurant recently opened downtown"

Cuddy shook her head slightly.

"I doubt I can convince Greg to take me there" She laughed.

"I thought the same about James" she said laughing "But he loved it. We went there last night and he assured me that we'll be back" she said, putting another piece of tomato in her mouth "We could go there together once" She added.

Cuddy stopped mid-air the fork in her hand.

"Last night?" She asked.

Teddy nodded as she swallowed her bite and Cuddy smiled a half smile just nodding in turn.

...

* * *

Cuddy opened the door and took off her jacket leaning down her leather bag. It was late... again.

"Hi" she said walking into the kitchen and kissing her daughters' head before taking a bottle of water from the fridge.

"You okay?" House asked watching her as she poured some water into the glass.

"Sure" she replied giving him the hint of a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Everything ok last night?" She asked him, not overemphasizing too much that question.

"Yeah... nothing special..." he replied "Why are you asking?"

"Nothing..." she said, putting her glass into the sink "You came home late... I just hoped to spend a little time with you... that's all" she said not looking down.

"You know Wilson..." House said smiling slightly "...beer and men chatter..."

She nodded, still looking at him straight in the eyes, before looking away.

"Fine" she said, giving him a half smile.

House approached her and wrapped her waist with his arm, but stopped as he felt her hesitation.

"Um...sorry... I don't feel very well" she said avoiding his eyes "... I have a bad headache..." she said, stroking his stubble just before freeing herself from his embrace.

"May you... put the girls in bed, please?" She asked him with the hint of a smile that again didn't reach her eyes, touching his hand that still rested on her hip, and briefly looking into his eyes.

"Ok" he replied still lingering for a moment with his hand on her hip before let her go and look at her as she walked out of the room.

...

* * *

Cuddy turned off the alarm and opened her eyes with difficulty.

The headache of the night before was still there and she had a meeting at nine. On Saturday morning. God... sometimes she hated her job!

She looked at House as he slept, and a shadow clouded her eyes. _If you weren't with Wilson... where were you? And above all... with whom?_ She asked to herself as she bit her lip.

 _Don't be paranoid._ She thought. It was a few days to their wedding anniversary... maybe he was just planning something. She shook off the thought that this was actually _very little in House style_... but she decided that for the moment she didn't want to investigate. Her headache was pounding enough in her head to add other thoughts that intensify that pain.

She wore her jacket and took her keys, breathing deeply in the cool air of that beautiful May morning, before getting into the car.

She turned the key... nothing.

Shit! Really what she needed right now! She tried again. Nothing. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the headrest before getting out of the car.

She left a post-it note to House and took the keys of his car. She would be back in a couple of hours. He certainly didn't need the car on a Saturday morning.

The keys slipped from her hand ending up under the seat as she sit down and placed her bag on the passenger seat, and she rolled her eye in exasperation before bending down to pick them up.

Her heart skipped a beat as she picked up from the mat under the seat not only the keys but also... an earring. She turned it between her fingers. An elegant earring with a pendant in white gold and diamonds.

Her hand began to tremble as she instinctively opened the glove compartment and the ashtray. House had never been very tidy, but his car had been washed a week earlier. She emptied the ashtrays spilling the contents on the passenger seat... candy wrappers and a few crumpled note. A couple of receipts of the coffee bar. And...

Her hand shook more while she repeated like a mantra not to be _paranoid_ , however unable to prevent the sudden feeling of nausea that close her stomach...

The bill of a New York restaurant. _Le Petit Bistrot_. Dated May 9, 2013. _For two._


	25. The seeds of suspition - Part 2

_I have to confess that I couldn't help but smile to your reviews at the last chapter. You can't read them because I just received them into my email account... It happens when they're too short... in this case they were just one o two words (swear words in most case...)...practically the last chapter gave the same reaction at you all! Definitely a change of route to this story that you didn't expect, I guess. But I hope to continue to surprise you a little in the next chapters. Who says that I'm predictable? It's a short chapter but... enjoy!_

* * *

 **...**

 **CHAPTER 25 - The seeds of suspition - Part 2**

 **...**

* * *

 _Her hand began to tremble as she instinctively opened the glove compartment and the ashtray. House had never been very tidy, but his car had been washed a week earlier. She emptied the ashtray spreading the contents on the passenger seat... candy wrappers and a few crumpled note. A couple of receipts of the coffee bar. And..._

 _Her hand shook more while she repeated like a mantra not to be paranoid, however unable to prevent the sudden feeling of nausea that close her stomach..._

 _The bill of a restaurant in New York. Le Petit Bistrot. Dated May 9, 2013._ _For two._

...

* * *

Cuddy came home at lunchtime and was greeted immediately by the warmth of her house. The bad feeling that had accompanied her all morning mingled with the reassuring one of the voices and laughter coming from the kitchen. The table was set and House was at the stove. Rachel and Grace were coloring on the table waiting for lunch to be ready... or better... Rachel was coloring _on the table._.. Grace was coloring _the table_.

She couldn't help but smile despite the headache still incessantly pounding into her head and the nausea that still closed her stomach.

"News from the Board?" House asked approaching her and at the same time bringing the wooden spoon closer to her lips making her taste the sauce for the pasta.

"Hhhmm... there's garlic enough to ward off a vampire..." she said smiling slightly "... but it's very good" she said, looking at him as he put the spaghetti into the boiling water.

"Because I'm a good cook... a good husband..." he said wrapping her body with an arm "... a great lover..." he added, whispering in her ear and kissing her neck.

Cuddy smiled trying to let herself go to that kiss.

 _Don't be paranoid_... she repeated in her mind... _he loves you and loves his daughters..._

... But the tiny earring in her pocket weighed like a boulder...

 _Ask him..._ a little voice inside her said... _there must be a plausible and probably banal explanation..._

A two-hour meeting for the planning of a new Neonatal Surgery Department... budget... permits... numbers... percentages... Half of what it had been told had no way reached her left brain hemisphere... the more she tried to focus the more her mind continued to focus only on those _clues_.

 _Clues?_

 _Of what? Of him cheating on her?_

Her rationality was fought. The pure analysis of the facts wasn't enough to give her an explanation and above all a _reassurance._

 _The earring ..._

Perhaps he had simply given a ride to someone...

Um... yeah... and perhaps... not _that kind of ride_!

 _... But what about the bill of the restaurant?_

... it could be _not his_... maybe it had been simply thrown in the trash by the same person who had got into the car with him ...

 _Yes... It could be...Conditional._

But the more her mind thought inconceivable the fact that House could cheat on her, the more that same mind continued to give her a different answer...

 _..._ _That night he wasn't with Wilson, but having dinner in a restaurant in New York... more than an hour from home... with a woman..._

"Are you ok?" House asked looking into her eyes and awaking her from her thoughts.

"Er... yes" she replied stroking his stubble as she couldn't help but getting lost in his eyes.

...

* * *

"Still that headache?" House asked grabbing her wrist as she passed by the couch after having put the girls to bed, forcing her to sit down beside him.

She had been a bit detached all the day, but House had preferred to leave her some space. They both always tried not to bring home the problems of the hospital, but sometimes they didn't succeed. And House knew that, even if they hadn't brought up the subject anymore, there was _a certain patient_ she couldn't stop thinking about. What instead he didn't know was that Mia wasn't the only thought spinning in her mind...

Cuddy sat down next to him still massaging her neck.

"Did you take some ibuprofen?" He asked looking at her as she closed her eyes.

"I took a couple of tablets two hours ago" She said nodding "It didn't work I guess..." she added, opening her eyes to look at him.

House turned off the TV and reached for her, resting his hands on her shoulders. He massaged her neck with his thumbs from the head to the shoulders feeling her tense muscles under his fingers.

"Oh God..." she whispered, closing her eyes and trying to relax and rather ignore the swirl of thoughts that again invaded her mind.

A lump closed her throat while House continued to massage her slowly, pressing harder on some muscles and more gently on others. He could hear her breathing in and out deeply in response to his touch, and he studied the reactions of her body and the way in which sometimes she held her breath.

For once even House was mistaken. Not a reaction to pain as it could be logical to think, but to that so infinitely sweet gesture.

Cuddy continued to focus on the feeling of his fingers on her skin as he moved his hands from her neck to her shoulders and on her back, precisely following the anatomy of her muscles. _Sternocleidomastoid. Trapezius. Dorsal. And every little paravertebral muscle._

Cuddy felt a chill down her spine. Not sex. Not foreplay. Just a massage. Just a caress. Just a pure and simple _act of love..._

"Better?" He whispered, bending down to kiss her neck while continuing to massage her.

Cuddy nodded and looked for his hands still resting on her shoulders, pulling them more towards her and wrapping them around her own chest. His chest against her back, his arms wrapped around her chest, his head in the crook of her neck as he tenderly kissed the side of her neck.

She didn't need words. Those gestures. That gesture. That was a silent _I love you_.

...

* * *

"Okay. See you tomorrow" House said hanging up quickly as soon as Cuddy walked out of the bathroom.

 _Stop it, Lisa!_ It was her first thought. _You're really getting paranoid._

Yet she failed to prevent the sudden bad feeling that came back to close her stomach slightly.

"The hospital?" She asked, trying to sound interested just to the professional side of that calling.

House looked at her. She was wrapped only in a towel. Her still wet hair falling in waves on her shoulders. Not even _he_ could prevent the sudden reaction that hit him. Completely different from hers. And exacerbated by the fact that they haven't been intimately together for more than ten days.

"Nothing important." He replied, nodding "What about going out for dinner on Friday?" He asked, changing the subject and getting closer to her, putting his hands on her hips "My mother offers to take care of the girls" he added, brushing her lips.

 _On Friday ... their wedding anniversary..._

Cuddy smiled and let him embrace her, putting her arms around his neck.

"Yes" she replied stroking his lips with hers in turn.

House nibbled her lower lip looking into her eyes and a quiver replaced the feeling that she had recently experienced in her stomach while he held her closer to him and moved his hands from her hips on her butt, caressing her through the soft terrycloth of the towel.

"Fine" he said, kissing her lightly on the lips "I was planning of getting a reservation at Artemisia's" he said looking into her eyes "... so then... _don't say I don't love my wife_ " he added, smiling at one inch from her mouth, before bridging the gap between them touching her tongue.

 _Artemisia's._

He felt her hesitation but he didn't have time to process that thought as at the same time his mind was caught by a voice behind him and a small body clung to his leg.

"Daddy... I'm afraid..." Rachel said, verging on tears, as House moved away from Cuddy to look at his daughter, stroking her hair and picking her up.

"A bad dream?" He asked as she nodded and hid her face in the crook of his neck wrapping her arms around his neck.

"A ghost... it tried to catch me..." she said still wrapping his neck as House sat down on the bed still stroking Rachel's back.

"Hey Rachel" he said, stroking her tearful face and looking into her eyes "Do you know ghosts don't exist, don't you?"

She bit her lip and nodded, looking at him with a serious look.

"There wasn't any ghost. None tried to catch you... it was just a bad dream..." House repeated, looking into her eyes.

 _God... How much she reminded him of Lisa_ , he thought, smiling. They didn't share any gene... not even one... yet they were so similar. _The same way of frowning. The same way of biting on their lower lip._

Rachel nodded, but curved her lips again on the verge on crying. "I'm afraid..." she repeated while her eyes misted with tears.

 _The same way of curving their lips when they were on the verge on crying._

House looked at her again and glanced at Cuddy as she sat down next to them.

"Okay" he said, kissing her on her forehead and putting her in the middle of their bed "... but just for tonight, okay?" he added, while Rachel slipped under the sheets.

Cuddy lay down next to Rachel.

"No more _ghost movie_ at bedtime!" She said, kissing her daughter and glaring at House.

House rolled his eyes at her.

"It was _Casper_ , Lisa!" He said, shaking his head slightly.

Cuddy looked at him seriously, but couldn't help but smile as she leaned her head on the pillow and let the sleep push away even the ghosts hovering in her mind.


	26. The seeds of suspition - Part 3

_What do you think? What is he hiding? Better for me not saying anything else... I'm not good in keeping my mouth closed! So...just enjoy ;)_

* * *

 **...**

 **CHAPTER 26 - The seeds of suspition -Part 3**

 **...**

* * *

 _Cuddy looked at him seriously, but couldn't help but smile as she leaned her head on the pillow and let the sleep push away even the ghosts hovering in her mind._

 _..._

* * *

House slowly opened his eyes and he became aware of why his back was hurting almost more than his leg.

Cuddy was curled up on the opposite side of the bed. Rachel was lying next to him. Well, _lying_... that wasn't the correct word at all! She was _spread out_ next to him. On her stomach... in a _star position_ ... with arms and legs spread wide... an arm on _his_ chest, the other practically on her mother's face. And Rachel wasn't the only _intruder_ in that bed. Grace was curled up between Rachel and Cuddy, perfectly _wedged_ against her mother's body. Probably she had awakened during the night and Lisa had failed to put her to sleep again in any other way than putting her in their bed.

He sat up, rubbing his leg and looking for his pills on the bedside table.

Finally he knew why he had slept a _troubled_ sleep and why his muscles ached... and yet he couldn't help but smile at that scene ... He well remembered how as a child he felt safe only in his mother's bed. If his father had known that sometimes his mother allowed him to sleep in her bed when he was out for work, he would have certainly kicked them both out of the door.

He gently moved Rachel and Grace trying not to wake them up and stood up, approaching Cuddy and stroking her back, bending then to kiss her cheek.

She stirred, opening her eyes and meeting his gaze.

"If you fall out of bed a neck massage won't be enough " he whispered in her ear seeing her smile as she settled a little in the bed reaching out for him and stroking his stubble.

"Why are you already up?" She asked as her eyes got used to the light coming through the window.

" _Your_ daughters kicked me out of bed" he said softly, laughing, looking at Rachel and Grace and then again at her.

Cuddy nodded as she turned her head to look at them before looking back at him, smiling back.

"What about having breakfast? Before our _two little monsters_ wake up?" He asked, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Sure" she replied, looking into his eyes.

He could even call them ironically _monsters_... but every time he added that _'our'_... that was enough to melt her heart...

...

* * *

"I hope not to come home too late... but I have an appointment in the late afternoon with Mia's social worker..." Cuddy said, looking at the coffee in her cup.

House looked at her.

"What did she tell you?" He asked as a flash passed in his eyes.

Cuddy shook her head slightly.

"The social worker? ... Nothing ..." she answered "She called my assistant for an appointment . I was very busy last week and I had to reschedule her appointment several times... today I really can't postpone it again... " she said still rubbing her neck "Mia is a little better... she certainly wants to know when her... _er... parents_ will be able to see her... "

House noticed that hesitation... but pretended not to have noticed it.

"They can't see her until she's not stable and in the NICU" he said taking a sip of his coffee.

Cuddy nodded, still looking at the dark liquid in her cup.

"Her blood oxygen level is better now... she no longer needs oxygen..." Cuddy said without looking at him, fingering with the rim of her cup "... and... you should think about remove her feeding tube... "

"You put me in charge of this case" House said firmly "... I'm not going to remove oxygen and not even her feeding tube until she's completely stable! Not even if her parents' names were Barack and Michelle. I'm her doctor! It's up to me!" His voice sharper than he wanted.

Cuddy look up at him and nodded.

"The _patient_ is yours _._ It's up to you." She said looking away and then looking back at the cup in her hands.

"Do you have any problem with that coffee?" House asked, deliberately changing the subject.

"W-what?" Cuddy asked, suddenly looking up from her cup and meeting his eyes "N-no..." she replied, taken aback by that question, and even more by the way he was looking at her "I'm not pregnant" she added, looking at him with a quizzical look.

"Ok" he replied, with a nod "Just to make sure" he added, smiling, standing up and leaning his cup in the sink.

Cuddy didn't move, looking at him for a moment before looking again at her coffee... _God..._ she would have wanted that the nausea closing her stomach was _morning sickness_... but it wasn't ... Not that she wanted to be pregnant... _not at all!_ ... But the anxiety that gripped her stomach was of a completely different nature... and she knew it...

For Mia... for that damned earring... for that restaurant bill... She closed her eyes for a moment before drinking that coffee... in one shot.

...

* * *

"Good morning, Dr. Cuddy" the nurse greeted her as she walked into the NICU.

Cuddy greeted her in turn and approached Mia's crib.

"When did they take her feeding tube off?" She asked, looking at the nurse and stroking one of Mia's little hand, failing to suppress a smile.

"A few hours ago, Dr. Cuddy" she said handing her Mia's folder "... but she still refuses her bottle..." she added as Cuddy looked up at her.

She looked at House's signature scribbled down the folder and swallowed. No more oxygen. No more feeding tube. Her condition was stable. Her surgery couldn't be scheduled according to the Board will... but she could be moved to the Pediatric Ward. To get out of the NICU. To meet her new parents.

"I don't authorize her ward transfer until she refuses to feed " she said, adding a note and her signature on the folder and looking at the nurse.

"Sure, Dr. Cuddy" She replied nodding.

Cuddy looked again at Mia and smiled stroking her cheek. Mia smiled and waved her little arms and legs. It wasn't the first time. She recognized her and she always smiled to her... but in that moment Cuddy's heart sunk. She bit her lip, fighting back the tears that were just waiting to appear inexorably in her eyes and looked at her one last time.

 _I love you, baby... I'll miss you..._ She mentally whispered, before walking away without looking back...

...

* * *

Cuddy stepped out of the elevator heading for House's office. Mia's social worker would be there in half an hour and she just needed to know if he could be with the girls if she'd be late. He didn't have a case... but knowing House, he could easily just fall asleep on the armchair in his office and not realize that it was 5 p.m. As _his boss_ she would have to be _horrified_ by that thought and yet she couldn't help but smile as she walked toward his office, her right hand fiddling with her wedding band on her left hand.

The scene she caught through the glass walls as she approached his office dissolved the smile on her face, as she dropped her arms along her sides.

House was in his office... but he wasn't alone...

She had already lived the same identical scene... the evening when she had gone to him to thank him, after having found her College desk in her office...

Just like that evening, now she wanted to cross that door... but she didn't... and simply watched that scene from outside.

He was back turned. _That woman wasn't_... and she was the last person she thought she could see now... in her husband's arms...


	27. Another woman

_Here I am... and... all the chickens come home to roost..._

* * *

...

 **CHAPTER 27 - Another woman**

 _..._

* * *

 _House was in his office... but he wasn't alone..._

 _She had already lived the same identical scene... the evening when she had gone to him to thank him, after having found her College desk in her office..._

 _Now, just like that evening, she wanted to cross that door... but she didn't... and simply watched that scene from outside._

 _He was back turned. That woman wasn't... and she was the last person she thought she could see now... in her husband's arms..._

 _..._

* * *

 _Well... no..._

 _Who was she kidding?_

It wasn't _the last person_ she thought she could see in her husband's arms. On the contrary. Even if he had always reassured her, that one had always been her fear. _That_ _one_ was the very person _she was afraid_ of seeing _again_ in her husband's arms.

 _Stacy Warner._

She saw them hugging each other. Actually a quick hug. But for her more than enough.

She saw her smiling to House as he probably smiled to her, and they exchanged a few words. She couldn't hear them, but she continued to look at her as she moved a strand of hair behind her ear. And she wasn't far enough not to notice it.

 _Only one earring._

...

* * *

"Where's Dr. Cuddy?" House asked to her assistant "It's urgent."

Trisha looked at him with a surprised and puzzled look.

"She didn't feel well..." she said "... she went home about an hour ago..."

House weighed that answer.

"What do you mean with _she didn't feel well_?" he asked "Why didn't she call me?".

"Um... I don't know, Dr. House... I'm sorry..." she replied "... She just told me she wasn't feeling well and to reschedule for tomorrow the appointment scheduled at 5.30 p.m today..."

 _The appointment with the social worker..._

House looked at her and walked away without saying goodbye, looking for the cell phone in his pocket and calling his wife for the fourth time in less than one hour. But again... she didn't answer.

He didn't know whether to be annoyed, angry or worried... not a phone call. Not a text. He had been in his office all afternoon. If she really wasn't fine she would have called. _Why didn't she call me?_ He kept telling himself that question as he entered their driveway.

Her car wasn't there. The lights were off. She could be not at home, but Marina and the girls were supposed to be there... He opened the door and phoned her again as he walked into the kitchen. No answer.

But the answer was waiting for him on the kitchen table.

 _The bill of Le Petit Bistrot... and an earring ..._

...

* * *

"Are Lisa and the girls here?" He abruptly asked giving Julia barely the time to open the front door.

"No" she replied looking at him with a questioning look "What happened?" Julia asked, feeling the anxiety grow as she saw the look in House's eyes "What have you done to her?"

Exactly the question that he could expect by Julia. They had learned to put up with each other... but Julia didn't trust him and, even after three years, that didn't change.

"Not of your business" he replied as he turned to leave.

She couldn't be with Arlene because she was out of town. Maybe she was home now and the kids were with her. He went home again, but the lights inside were still off.

His phone rang. _His mother_. He looked for a moment at the incoming call and at that _'Mom'_ on the display before answering.

"Greg, darling, are you okay?" She asked him, feeling a little hesitation in his voice.

"Yes, Mom" he replied, pretending a calm that he hadn't at that moment "Why are you asking me?"

 _"Um ... nothing, Darling ..." she replied "I just saw Lisa... nothing to worry about I suppose but... I got the impression that she wasn't fine... and I just wanted to be sure that everything is ok..."_

 _His heart skipped a beat as soon as he heard Grace's voice in the background. Her voice and then Rachel's one... as they whimpered probably contending for the same toy._

"Yeah... nothing to worry about but...I'm still at work, Mom" he lied "Did she say where she was going?"

 _Obviously she didn't._ But he felt relieved knowing that the kids were at his mother's. She hadn't brought them at her sister's. She had brought them at _her mother-in-law_ 's house. This was _an anomaly_. And he didn't know how to interpret it. She was gone. She didn't answer his calls. Indeed... worse... in the last half an hour his calls were routed directly to her voice mail. She had left the restaurant bill and the earring on the table. _For him._ So... she knew. Or rather... she thought of knowing. She could have found those two things only in one place... in his car... _three days before..._ and, in those three days, she hadn't ask him anything about that. But he knew her too well not to know what had passed in her mind. And frankly he would have known it even if he didn't know her well... because looking at those _clues_... evidences were all decidedly against him...

Actually... knowing her, he was surprised not to have found even _her wedding ring_ on the table with that bill and _Stacy's_ earring...

...

* * *

He stared at the driveway in front of him, gripping the steering wheel. He put a hand into his pocket and took the small package wrapped in silver gift paper, untying the dark blue ribbon. He opened the box and turned in his hands that little object as the events of recent weeks passed before his eyes.

He closed his eyes, leaning his head on the headrest continuing to turn over in his hands that small object.

 _Not at home ... not at Julia's ..._ He opened his eyes and looked at that small object putting it back into his pocket.

 _He knew where to find her._

...

* * *

He knew by memory every inch of that hallway by now.

She was there. In the dim light of the room. Sitting in a chair. Beside Mia's crib.

House paused in the doorway and looked at her. Cuddy looked up feeling his presence and bit her lip. Red-eyed from crying, but no tears. She was in her hospital. There, she wasn't allowed to let go.

"Please, go away..." she whispered, looking away.

"I'm not going anywhere..." he replied.

Cuddy look up at him, nodding, as she stood up.

"Fine... I'm leaving ..." she said, looking down as she passed by him.

House grabbed her arm and met her eyes, as she looked up at him.

"You're right..." he said without letting her hand go "... there's another woman in my life"

For a moment he thought she was going to slap him, before he saw sorrow took the place of anger in her eyes... He watched her as she looked down and bit her lip. And he could feel her hand trembling.

He knew her. Sometimes better than she knew herself. He knew that slapping her in the face would have been less painful for her than those words. She was the one who had always wanted sincerity and communication. He recalled that " _You can't love someone without making yourself open to their problems, their fears... And you're not willing to do that..."_ as if she said those words that same evening. And now that he _"was willing to do it",_ _she_ was the one who avoided sharing with him her problems and fears... she was the one not to trust in him...

That day, in his office, Wilson's words were not entirely unexpected for him. He knew from the beginning what she felt for that baby girl. He didn't need to ask... he could read it in her eyes. The only thing he hadn't expected was... _to feel the same_.

Wilson was a good friend ... certainly not a good keeper of secrets... and those words had escaped from his mouth as he was just telling him about his conversation with Lisa after that extra meeting of the Board.

 _"We have already lost a kid, Wilson, I can't get him involved in something that can drag us down again... I couldn't stand it again, and probably he couldn't too..."_

And he also knew that that night, in their bed, she wanted to say _"... I just want her to be fine, Greg ... to be happy... to have a Mom who loves her like I do..."_

He knew he couldn't get any information about the family who wanted to adopt Mia. He could have just talked with his wife and filed for adoption in turn... but Lisa's words could never have been more right... _"We have already lost a kid, I can't get him involved in something that can drag us down again... I couldn't stand it again..."_... not because of her heart disease, but because he didn't know if they really had the chance to adopt her... and he couldn't run the risk of her having false expectations only _to lose another kid_ ... she had already fallen once into the vortex of depression... he couldn't allow that to happen again...

He had taken his phone and called the only person from whom he could have the kind of help he needed. _Stacy Warner._

He could tell a lot about Stacy, but not that she wasn't a great lawyer. If he wanted to have a chance he needed her.

He had met her in New York, in a French restaurant near her law firm, and they had talk long. According to Stacy they had good chances to have the custody of the child. The baby was sick and being both doctors was a point in their favor. A very good salary. Rather two good salaries. A stable relationship. Two kids. All things that any judge would take into account. She would obviously downplayed the fact that they had lost a baby less than six months before... but after all that was her job... she was a lawyer... and she was very skillful in emphasizing the points in favor of her clients, minimizing those against them...

Stacy had talked with the judge who was on Mia's case... this was what she had told him the previous night on the phone, just before Lisa walked out of the bathroom. He wanted to talk to her after that phone call, but in the end he had preferred to wait and be sure that Mia's custody could really be a certainty.

That was the reason for which Stacy was in his office that afternoon. That was the reason for which he urgently needed to talk to his wife that afternoon, before her meeting with the social worker...

He continued to look at her. She wasn't crying. But the way in which she bit her lip without looking at him was her way of preventing tears from falling.

"There's another woman in my life ..." he repeated without letting her hand go "And _in yours_..." he added, taking her chin with his other hand and forcing her to look into his eyes.

He looked at her letting the blue of his eyes merge with the gray-blue of hers and stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"... and you're an idiot, Cuddy!" He said seeing the glint in her eyes.

He turned his head to look for a moment at Mia, peacefully asleep in her crib, and slipped a hand into his pocket, taking the little object that was still into it.

"I wanted to give this to you for our wedding anniversary..." he said looking back into her eyes "... but apparently I have to give it to you right now or I'm afraid _there won't be an anniversary anymore_..." he said, with a half smile, putting that little jewel in the palm of her hand.

Cuddy looked at that small pendant, and then looked up at House, then again at the white gold pendant in her hand, as her hands began to tremble stronger...

"Oh my God..." she stammered as she almost couldn't breathe and tears filled her eyes.

A little white gold heart... and a carved name...

 _Mia_

Tears clouded her view as she stared at the pendant in the palm of her hand. Identical to the other two on her bracelet.

"I-I d-don't..." she stammered, looking up at House.

"You fell in love with her from the first day..." he said wrapping an arm around her waist still looking into her eyes "... and me too ..."

"S-she i-is... h-her parents... her c-custody..." she stammered still looking at the pendant in her hand "I-I signed her transfer in Pediatrics one hour ago..." she said unable to control the trembling of her hand.

"This means that tomorrow we'll go to pick her up in Pediatrics." House said, smiling "and... if the judge asks you about... you signed for her custody with your right hand because of a sprained left wrist" he added, letting out a laugh.

Cuddy couldn't help but laughing. Laugh mixed with tears.

"Have you... have you forged my signature?" She asked, biting her lip with the hint of a smile.

House nodded holding her closer to him.

"It's not the first time" he replied, smiling back.

Cuddy stroked his face before looking down shaking her head slightly.

"Stacy..." she whispered, closing her eyes for a moment and putting together all the pieces of that puzzle... "God... I thought that you..."

She didn't finish that sentence as she raised her head to look at him getting lost in his eyes and he touched her lips.

"Don't make me say it again, Cuddy" he said smiling.

"I'm an idiot..." she whispered, saying it in his place, still smiling and biting her lip.

"You really want it?" She asked him still looking at him "I don't want that you do this for me... I don't want _to force_ you into this..."

"How many patients did you see me hold in my arms, Lisa?" He asked, answering to her question with another question and seeing now tears start to fall down her cheeks "I'm sorry about Stacy... I'm sorry not to have talk with you... I really can't risk you to have false hopes... I needed to be sure she could really be _ours,_ Lisa _._.. " he said wiping away a tear with his thumb " ... but apparently you are the usual killjoy ... " he added with a smile as he couldn't help but tease her to make her smile.

"Tell me I'm not dreaming..." she said as her voice crack.

"You'll realize it by yourself when she repeatedly wakes you up from your dreams crying in the middle of the night" he said, looking at her as her eyes moved from him to Mia.

"I ... I love her so much..." she whispered, looking at her.

"I know..." House said, stroking her back and kissing her temple.

Cuddy smiled still looking at Mia, before looking again at House.

"Hold me" She whispered as House took her in his arms holding her tighter.

"I'd like to tell you that you're the only woman in my life... but I'd be lying, Lisa" he said, smiling, resting his chin on the top of her head "... apparently that makes four of you now" he added.

Cuddy let out a laugh as she kept her face hidden on his chest and got lost into his arms, before raising her head to look up at him. He found her lips and a shiver ran down her back as their tongues touched as their respective _I love you_ got lost on their lips.

* * *

... ...

 _ **Hope you like this ;)**_


	28. I chose you

_Here I am again! Predictable but with a bit of suspense! Another KID in this Huddy family. So now what? If you're asking, the end of this story is not so close. I still have a lot in mind. So... enjoy!_

* * *

 **...**

 **CHAPTER 28 - I chose you**

 **...**

* * *

Cuddy opened the front door and turned to House looking at him as he parked the car behind hers in the driveway and got out of the car. He took off his jacket and hung it at the coat rack, then walking into the kitchen. The receipt of _Le Petit Bistrot_ was still on the table along with Stacy's earring. Cuddy bit her lip and rubbed her neck before turning to him, feeling his presence behind her.

"I really am an idiot..." she said turning that receipt in her hands "It's just that... you seemed detached and... we haven't been making love for almost two weeks... and I ..."

House said nothing, but looked at her and caressed her face with his hand, then finding her lips.

"Because... you seemed detached..." he said smiling, seeing her smile and bite her lip again "... and... you had headaches... and you weren't in the mood to make love..." he said, caressing her neck with his hand.

Cuddy closed her eyes for a moment, nodding, before reopen them, looking at him.

"So... we're _two_ idiots" she said smiling.

House smiled back and nodded slightly.

"Again that headache?" He asked. He didn't miss the way she was still rubbing her neck.

"My neck hurts..." she replied, nodding and looking into his eyes "... but not enough to not want you, Greg" she added with a smile clinging closer to him.

House smiled and cupped her face with both hands, finding her tongue again.

"Wait" he said, stroking her back.

Cuddy looked at him as he took the orange bottle from his pocket and put four pills in his palm. Three for him... one for her. He put one in the palm of her hand and handed her a glass of water.

"Sorry... no Champagne..." he said letting out a small laugh as he watched her swallow that pill of ibuprofen with a few sips of water.

"Thanks" she said, again with the hint of a smile, as he put his hands on her hips again and kissed her lightly on the lips. "This pain has been tormenting me for days... I think there's a clear psychosomatic component " she said, biting her lip as she smiled.

"I know too well that kind of pain..." he replied, looking straight into her eyes "... But I also know how to make it go away" he added on her lips, taking the glass from her hand and placing it on the table before turn her and put his hands on her shoulders, leading her toward their bedroom.

He kissed the side of her neck slightly as they entered the room.

"Don't get any strange ideas, Cuddy" he whispered in her ear, laughing "... unless you're expecting a massage with a happy ending" he added making her sit down on the bed.

Cuddy replied just with a smile as she took off her shirt and lay down on her stomach on the bed.

"I don't know if _you_ can do it without a happy ending" she said, smiling, moving her hair by side and exposing completely her neck and shoulders.

"I wouldn't bet on it if I were you, Lisa" he replied as he felt her shiver at the mere contact of his hand with her skin.

His hands caressed her back before starting to massage the sides of her neck, expertly lingering with his thumbs on the small muscles at the side of her cervical spine and up at the base of her skull. Cuddy immediately felt like in a trance as his fingers moved into her hair massaging her scalp and then her temples, then coming back to her nape.

He continued to massage her shoulders, smiling as small moans escaped from time to time from her lips. He had unclasped her bra and his hands was now massaging her back moving slowly towards her bottom. Cuddy smiled as he slipped off her pants leaving her only in her panties.

"It's _my neck_ that hurts, Greg, not my..." she laughed, turning her head slightly to look at him.

"Shut up" he said laughing putting a hand on her back to make her stay still, sinking his thumbs in the point where her buttocks were inserted on the posterior iliac spines of her hips and continued to massage her with circular movements of his fingers.

He could feel her tense muscles relax under his fingers while his hands went up again towards her shoulders and neck.

"Better?" He whispered in her ear as he bent to kiss her neck.

"Very" She replied finding his lips and turning belly up while House's hand continued to stroke her side with his thumb.

"How's your leg?" She asked, sitting up on the bed and fastening her bra, touching his thigh with her fingers through the fabric of his jeans and starting to unbuckle his belt.

House looked at her hands without answering and let her take his jeans off.

"Relax" She whispered, resting her hands on his thigh as he leaned with his back against the headboard.

Her touch was light, but firm.

He was no longer ashamed of his scar... if there was one thing he could say about Lisa was that _never,_ since they were together, she had made him weigh his disability. He regretted not being able of doing a lot of things... not being able to go for a run with her or play tennis with her, but in the end he had really realized how strong was the psychological component of his own pain. It had been his fear, not his leg, to prevent him from being the man she wanted next to herself two years before... and in the last two years he had never felt particularly limited by that leg.

He let her hands move on the muscle around his scar, from his knee upwards and to the sides of his thigh, from time to time leading her movements with his hand.

For a split second House thought back about how many times a hand had massaged him as she was massaging him now, and about how many times a mouth had then given him pleasure after that massage.

He found her face with his hand and stroked her cheek, meeting her gaze as he took her hand with the other.

God, he loved those eyes... the way she looked at him... he loved her hands... her fingers intertwined with his... one hundred of those old massages weren't worth one of hers... As ever, since he was with her, that _old happy ending_ seemed anything but _happy_... Cold, sterile, a pure fulfillment of a impulse ... no passion, no warmth... with her, he felt a fire start to burn into him just by looking at her... and he didn't want an orgasm... he wanted her tongue, her skin... he wanted _her._

"I love you" he whispered looking into her eyes, pulling her toward himself and touching her lips.

Cuddy looked into his eyes and couldn't help but notice the shadow in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked, stroking his stubble.

He didn't answer. He took off his shirt and pulled her closer to him, lying on the bed and making her put her head on his chest before covering both of them with the sheet.

They stayed still, embraced, just savoring the warmth of their bodies. Her hand stroked his chest fiddling with the light down on his chest. She could hear the quiet beating of his heart and the warmth of his breath on her hair. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again, undecided whether to break that silence or not. House stroked her hair and kissed her head finding her hand and intertwining his fingers with hers on his own chest again.

"You're my life, Lisa" he whispered, kissing her hair again "You and the girls..." he added.

Cuddy stood motionless, feeling tears starting to mist her eyes. She knew what he was going to say...

"I don't even know what I thought when I didn't know where the three of you were... but I felt like dying..." he added, unable to hide the note of panic in his voice. Or _not wanting_ to hide it.

"I would never take them away from you..." she whispered, raising her head to look at him "I needed to be alone... I brought them at your mother's..."

House nodded. It was true, and he knew it. If she had even thought about taking her children away from him she would have brought them at Julia's or Arlene's... but she had not.

"I've been at Julia's" he said looking into her eyes.

Cuddy widened her eyes, still staring at him. Had he really thought that she was gone, taking their children with her?

"Greg ..."

"It's all right..." he interrupted her, caressing her face again "You're here now..." he said again touching her lips.

"How did you know I was with Mia?" She asked

"I know you" he replied, smiling "... sometimes better than you know yourself..." he added.

Cuddy smiled and lay down again beside him, pulling him closer to herself. They stayed there, lying on their side, still, just looking at each other. Seconds... minutes... lost into each other's eyes.

Their lips found each other. Slightly. Just a light touch. Cuddy closed her eyes at the feeling of his breath on her lips, but opened them again, looking into his eyes. His hand moved on her side. Hers stroked his arm and back. And their lips found each other again, this time more. House's tongue brushed her lips and she opened them slightly giving it greater access to her mouth and letting out a moan at that contact. He smiled finding her tongue more while his hands pulled her closer and unclasped her bra.

She put her fingers in the elastic band of his boxers and slid them along his legs down to his knees, before doing the same with her own panties. House smiled as he kissed her, but he didn't pull away, still exploring her mouth. She lay down on her back and pulled him closer, opening her legs in a tacit invitation that he didn't miss. He stroked her thigh with his hand and took off her panties entirely, doing the same with his boxers, before lying down on top of her. The tip of his penis immediately touched her entrance and he looked at her as she closed her eyes for a moment to that feeling. He entered her very slowly, looking into her eyes while her walls welcomed him adapting to him. He found her mouth again and slowly slipped out of her almost completely, just to penetrate her again, repeating again and again that slow and deep move. She could feel the warmth that spread from her lady parts to her chest and cheeks... and even him... as they both savored the feeling of their bodies merging repeatedly. His mouth that moved from her breast to her neck, her mouth on his neck as her tongue teased and sucked on his earlobe.

"Oh God, my love..." she moaned "... please don't stop..."

House looked into her eyes as he entered her more vigorously, making her arch her back and leaving her breathless for a moment, unable to prevent a _"Oh God, Lisa... yeah..."_ escaping from his own lips.

He held her tighter as he stayed still for a moment inside her. Completely into her and into her arms. One thing with her.

He kissed her on the mouth again and speeded the pace meeting hers as she moved below him, holding her hands on his shoulders and digging her nails into his skin. Her labored breathing set the pace of his thrusts and he knew she was close. The more erratic movements of her body, her more labored breathing, the way in which sometimes she held her breath...

 _God, Lisa... come for me..._ he thought, unable to find a way to give voice to his thoughts as he looked into her eyes. The very thought of being responsible for the pleasure he could see in her eyes drove him crazy. _How might she have even remotely thought about him cheating on her?_ He mocked monogamy in the past, convinced it was against nature. He mocked marriage, considering it only a sort of farce. He couldn't be more wrong. He wanted her... only her... all for himself. But even more... he wanted to be _hers_. The thought of being _hers_ gave him a feeling that he couldn't describe...

 _God, Lisa... make me come as you call my name ..._ He thought, again unable to give voice to the thought that surely would sent her to the height of pleasure.

He was just able to say that _"God, Lisa ..."_ while the rest of his thought choked in his throat. But she didn't need words. He recognized that flash in her eyes and that was enough to send him over the edge with her. Her pleasure merged with his intensifying and amplifying the feelings of both of them, as they both let go to pleasure, lost in each other's arms.

An _"Oh my God..."_ escaped Cuddy's lips and she hid her face on his chest, still panting, unable to control her breathing "How can it be every time more incredible...?" She asked on his neck, then finding his mouth.

House smiled and hugged her. He didn't have an answer to that question. It was true, making love to her was every time even more incredible.

They lay side by side, looking into each other's eyes and brushing each other's lips repeatedly in small kisses that occasionally became small bites and tongue brushing. Lost in each other's arms and in each other's eyes.

The rumbling of Cuddy's stomach awakened them from that moment, making him smile.

"Someone needs to eat?" He asked looking at her, smiling and putting a hand on her stomach.

Cuddy laughed.

"I'm not really that hungry..." she said smiling.

"Then there's a monster in here" he laughed, shaking his head slightly before looking at her again.

He bit his tongue metaphorically on that line, mentally calling himself an idiot, repeatedly... A stupid joke. Predictable. Not original at all. In the relaxation of that moment it was literally slip out from his mouth.

Their lives were back to normality... that January 7 seemed very far... but that topic was still a taboo. They never talked about that... about pregnancy... childbirth... even though he pretended not to notice it, even in the hospital she did virtually everything to avoid the maternity ward as much as she could.

Cuddy didn't look down, but held his gaze, and for a moment House couldn't tell her thoughts. The only thought in his mind at that time was rather... _'Shit, Cuddy... take away a couple of zeros from my salary because I'm an idiot... not a genius ...'_ He continued to look at her, expecting to see her biting her lip, or worse ... to see that lip starting to tremble...

And instead... she laughed.

"We already have _three_ kids, Greg" she said, laughing "I think we're definitely good like this!" She said, shaking her head slightly and smacking another quick kiss on his lips before freeing herself from that embrace.

House looked at her as she stand up, completely naked, and turned toward him.

"So? Aren't you coming with me?" She asked with a smile "You're right... I'm starving" she added reaching for his hand.

...

* * *

House stopped on the door frame of the Pediatrics room. Cuddy was sitting in the chair beside the crib, holding Mia in her arms and looking into her eyes as she gave her the bottle. Mia's tiny hands held the baby bottle, Cuddy's hand held that same bottle, stroking with her thumb her daughter's little hand.

"Hey"

Cuddy looked up meeting House's gaze.

"Hi. I didn't hear you come in" She said smiling slightly as he rested his backside against the crib, watching them.

"You were practically hypnotized by her" he said smiling back.

"Yeah..." she said nodding "Her eyes... I don't know... I can't stop looking at her" she said, kissing her cheek "I'm starting to think that her mother is _a witch_ " she added, laughing.

House stared at her.

"Because... she _is_ a witch." He said "... the _wicked witch_ who commands here" he added seriously, but then letting out a half laugh.

Cuddy nodded and couldn't help but smile, biting her lip.

"With Rachel... it had been different" She said, looking again at Mia and brushing her cheek "Now I couldn't live without her... but when I got into foster care... I... I felt nothing... I was... I don't know... with Mia it was different... it is different... " she said looking up at him.

"With Rachel... you wanted a child, not matter what. Not for _her_ , but for yourself. You wanted a child to fill the emptiness of your life and to have the happiness you didn't have" he said looking into her eyes.

Cuddy nodded as a thought filled her mind.

 _"The little bastard child who made me feel good about myself..."_ she whispered avoiding his gaze, repeating the words he had said her that night in her office.

"That's not what I'm saying now. And that time... I was hallucinating, Cuddy! You know I didn't really mean those words" he said shaking his head, staring at her.

She smiled slightly.

"Yes, you were hallucinating. And... yes, probably you wouldn't have said it, but it was exactly what you meant..." she smiled "I'm not mad with you... well... not anymore... actually you were right. You're always right. " She added.

"I was right when you got her foster care... not that night, Lisa" he replied "You started to love her when you stopped caring about yourself and you began to care about her, because at that very moment you started to melt at every Rachel's smile. You were practically glued to that webcam, do you remember? " He laughed

Cuddy nodded and smiled, looking again at Mia and thinking back to those images on her computer screen... _a baby_ _Rachel playing with her blanket..._

"Mia is different..." House added, making her looking up at him, and awakening her from that thought.

"She's different because it wasn't you the one who chose her... in a sense, she chose you"

Cuddy bit her lip reworking those words. It was true. She didn't want another child. Not after Jess... Another child was the last thought in her mind. You meet a thousand people in your life. Someone only for a few moments. Someone didn't leave any memory of themselves... other one become indelible...

"The second _love at first sight_ of my life" Cuddy said smiling and looking into his eyes.

House laughed and looked down before looking at Mia.

"At least you didn't take twenty years, baby!" He said laughingly looking at Mia and bending down to brush her cheek with his lips, before touching Cuddy's lips.

"She's even smarter than her dad then" Cuddy whispered on House's lips, smiling, before finding his lips in another tender kiss.


	29. I chose you - Part 2

**CHAPTER 29 - I chose you - Part 2**

* * *

Cuddy looked at her watch and opened the door of Rachel and Grace's bedroom. Half past 9 p.m. They would have been already asleep for at least half an hour and instead she could still hear giggles coming from the half-closed door. House had taken them to bed while she was busy in a phone call.

"Greg, please..." she said, opening the door "How many times did I tell you?! How can they sleep if you keep making them laugh?"

Her serious look disappeared at the scene in front of her eyes. God... it was the sweetest view she could see... and she couldn't help but smile.

House was belly up on the floor. Rachel sat on his chest and laughed as he tickled her. Grace was on all fours leaning on his head as she covered his whole face of slobbery kisses. He laughed along with them.

"It's not my fault... I can't move anymore, Cuddy!" He laughed as he heard her walking in and sitting down on the floor next to them taking Grace in her arms and freeing his face, while Rachel ran on her bed.

"My poor baby" she said, bending to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"Da-da" Grace said stretching her little arms toward him.

"No, Honey" Cuddy said holding her and kissing her cheek "Time to go bye-bye. And Daddy is tired" she said, stroking her hair and looking at House as he sat up.

" _Daddy isn't that tired... Mommy_ " he whispered in her ear, biting her lobe and putting an arm around her waist.

Cuddy smiled bending her neck toward him to prevent him from kissing her, but failing however to prevent a shiver run down her spine. She stood up looking mischievously at him before putting Grace in her crib, tucking her blanket. She stroked Rachel's hair and kissed her forehead.

"Mom?" Rachel said, looking at her and clutching her teddy bear "Why the little sister doesn't sleep here with us?" She asked.

Cuddy sat down on the bed beside her and stroked her hair again.

"Mia doesn't feel good, Sweetheart. She has to stay in hospital for a while. She'll come home as soon as she's better" she said smiling slightly "But we can go and see her tomorrow if you want"

Rachel nodded, but bit her lip.

"What's wrong, Honey?" She asked, unable to decipher the serious look in her daughter's eyes. She knew that it wasn't easy to make her accept another sister. An intruder in a sense. Jealousy between siblings was quite natural. She wasn't surprised at all. And this time she hadn't had nine months to get used to that idea. This little sister had appeared suddenly from one day to another. "Nothing will change, Honey. Mom and dad love you and always will. You. And Grace. And Mia..."

Rachel looked at her. A serious look for a five-year-old little girl.

"She's not in your belly" she said resting her hand on her mother's stomach. She was just a kid but she wasn't young enough not to remember Grace kicking in her belly. And Jess... And Cuddy just shook her head, meeting for a second House's gaze as he stood with his back against the door frame. "Why?" She asked in the most natural way in the world. In the same way in which she had asked why flowers close at night... or why there are no stars during the day... one of her many _why_.

 _Why?_

"Mia isn't in my belly. You weren't in my belly, yet. Do you remember I already told you this?" She asked, looking at her as she nodded.

That time she had tried to explain that how you could explain it to a three-year-old, passing over many things, and actually she wasn't really sure that she had understood...

"Grace was" Rachel said.

"Yes. Grace was in my belly." Cuddy said nodding "Sometimes children grow up in their mom's belly... sometimes they just _come_ in their mom's life... I _chose_ you and Mia because I love you both so much that I couldn't think of a life without you... can you understand this?"

Rachel nodded and smiled, putting her arms around her mother's neck and clinging her stronger.

"I really love you more than anything else in the world, Rachel" she said still holding her in her arms and kissing her hair.

"And Grace, and Mia" Rachel said smiling looking into her eyes as she nodded "and Daddy..."

Cuddy laughed and nodded.

"Yes, Honey. Even Daddy" she added, glancing at House and smiling, still stroking her hair "Time to sleep... good night, Sweetheart..." she said, bending to kiss her while she curled up under the sheets with her teddy bear.

House looked at her as she approached him and wrapped her waist with his arm as they left the room. He watched her as she undressed and joined him under the sheets.

"You have been great" he said, kissing her temple as she hugged him.

Cuddy smiled, resting her head on his chest.

"Actually, I didn't answer her question, Greg," she said, stroking his chest "And I'm not quite sure that she understood" she added, smiling and raising her head to look at him.

"She's five years old..." he said brushing her lips "There's time... and you're a great mom"

Cuddy nodded, savoring the feel of his hands under her nightie.

"Don't I suck as a mother anymore?" She asked, teasing him.

"That was Vicodin withdrawal talking... not me" he said, smiling on her lips and stroking her back "You're a great mom."

He smiled, slipping a hand into her panties to touch her bottom, with a very mischievous look.

"What?" She asked, smiling back and looking into his eyes with a questioning look.

He kept to look at her and let out a little laugh.

"Do you know that who coined the acronym MILF do that thinking about you, don't you?" He said sucking her lip.

In response, Cuddy placed a hand on his chest, moving him away from her lightly and shaking her head, running her tongue on her lips and looking at him with the same look she gave him in hospital when he said something inappropriate.

"And in your dirty mind... should this be a compliment?" She asked with a glare, but unable to suppress a smile.

"I want you" he said on her mouth without answering her question, pulling her to him and pushing her on her back on the bed, then falling on top of her.

" _Daddy_ is definitely not tired" he added, rubbing her breasts through the fabric of her nightie and then lowering a strap, bending to suck one of her nipple.

Cuddy couldn't repress a moan, trying however with difficulty to stifle it in her own throat as she arched her back.

"Greg... no..." she whispered in his mouth as he looked for her tongue "Rachel... is still awake"

House smiled, ignoring her words and taking her panties off.

Cuddy looked at him as he took off his boxers and lay down on top of her.

"Let's see if you can be quiet" he said mischievously on her lips.

"Greg... no..."

"Tell me you _don't_ want me, Lisa" he said on her lips taking her face with one hand and kissing her mouth and cheek and neck "Tell me you _don't_ want me... and I promise I'll let you sleep..." he added, looking at her slyly into her eyes and rubbing his erection on her.

"God..." she whispered, closing her eyes "... you can't do this..."

"Yes, I can..." he replied, still sucking on her lip "I can tell to my wife that I want to fuck her like never before... and she can say no" he said looking into her eyes and seeing her pupils dilate "I am very _fair_ , Cuddy" he added, smiling.

"You're not _fair_ at all" she laughed running her tongue on _his_ lips and sucking in turn his lower lip. "Do you know that turns me on when you talk to me like that, don't you?"

He smiled.

"Of course I know. Your eyes don't lie. And not even your lips." He said "And when I say _lips_... I mean _these lips_ " he said moving his hand between her legs and rubbing her with his fingers.

She closed her eyes and bit her lip to keep herself from moaning. She tried not to think about his fingers inside her. About how his fingers made her body tremble inexorably. She just wanted to scream but she knew she couldn't... and she felt like she was going to explode...

"Greg, no..." she said again.

House raised his head to look at her.

"Ok" he said sucking her lip again, but this time stopping his hand and rolling at her side.

Cuddy stood still for a moment on her back and closed her eyes, her most intimate part still throbbing.

"... God..." she whispered, turning toward him and straddling him earnestly finding his mouth.

House answered that unexpected kiss sinking his hands through her hair.

" _You sucks as a mother_ , you know?" He said with a mischievous smile just to make her angry, but biting her lip "Do you want that our daughter sees you _riding_ her father?" She added, squeezing her buttocks in his hands and pulling her closer to him "Her innocent eyes..."

"But _I_ 'm not _innocent_ " she replied smirking on his lips pulling the sheet up over her shoulders "... and I'm not going to _ride_ you..." she added with a mischievous look wrapping her hand around his erection and whispering a few words in his ear, immediately feeling in her hand the effect of her own words "... you can watch... if your eyes aren't too much _innocent_..." she added as she moved between his legs, taking him into her mouth and sucking slowly, continuing to rub with her hand the part of him that her mouth couldn't reach.

This time he was the one who couldn't suppress a groan as her mouth moved inexorably on him.

"Lisa... no..."

Cuddy raised her head and looked at him as he took her by her arms pulling her on top of him, seeking her mouth.

"Are you the one saying _no_ , now?" She asked smiling on his lips.

"Not that kind of _no_ " he replied kissing her mouth deeply.

"Then fuck me" she whispered on his mouth "Make me come as you come inside me..." she said looking into his eyes.

"God..." he whispered looking into her eyes and turning her suddenly belly up on the bed lying on top of her and covering himself with the sheet. _Fuck! It was such a turn on when she talked to him like that!_

"Sure?" He asked on her lips. His voice extremely deep with excitement "You know you won't be able of being quite" he added with a look that was a mixture of challenge and lust.

"Fuck me, Greg" She replied holding his gaze and biting her lip in anticipation.

And he doesn't need to be told again. He suddenly thrust into her, penetrating her deeply. She buried her face on the crook of his neck to keep from screaming. She panted against his neck, holding her breath from time to time to keep from moaning loudly. God, she just wanted to scream! The pleasure so strong that she could barely breathe.

He could feel her heart pounding against his chest, but he didn't slow the pace, continuing to thrust deeply inside her. His pelvis slamming against hers with every thrust. Hard. Too hard even for him. He tried to think about something else... but he could only think about her wetness... about her shaking legs... and about the tension in his balls banging relentlessly against her entrance... and he couldn't restrain himself anymore, suddenly stopping for a second as he exploded inside her, squeezed by the contractions of her walls... only sign of the orgasm overwhelming her. She was practically in apnea, as she stifled House's moans in her mouth.

"God... my love" he whispered panting heavily breaking away from her mouth and leaning his head between her breasts.

She didn't answer, still panting quietly and almost choking as her lungs sought air.

"Hey... you ok?" He asked smiling, raising his head.

Cuddy smiled putting a hand on her forehead, her eyes still closed as she nodded. Her chest rose and fell rhythmically.

"I like when you're so bold" he said, kissing her lips.

"I... I feel dizzy" she said smiling, not opening her eyes.

House laughed. "Because you practically were in apnea" he said, laughing and kissing her lips "Breathe deeply. I don't want to become a widower... to have to arrange your funeral and all that stuff" he added jokingly.

Cuddy nodded.

"Oh thank you" she said sarcastically but letting out a laugh, still keeping her eyes shut "So that was your plan to kill me?" She added with a smile "To replace me with a younger wife?"

"Shut up and just breathe!" He replied laughing "And which part of ' _I'll always choose you'_ you didn't understand?" he said again, kissing her lips.

She laughed again.

"You were drunk"

"Yes... but now I'm not" he said looking at her as she opened her eyes "I chose you... I'll always choose y..."

That _you_ got lost on her lips. He couldn't finish the sentence as she trapped her mouth in another long kiss.


	30. Fur Elise

**CHAPTER 30 - Für Elise**

 **...**

* * *

"Hey you little girl, isn't it time to go to bed?" Cuddy said smiling looking at Rachel sitting at the piano, on House's knees, her little hand on the keyboard next to the much bigger one of her father.

"Our _Beethoven_ wants make you listen to something" House said, raising his eyes and meeting Cuddy's motioning her to sit down to enjoy _the show_.

Cuddy sat down in the armchair and looked at them as they confabulated under their breath and House arranged Rachel's little right hand on one of the white keys and then arranged his left hand on the left side of the keyboard. Two-hand sonata. _Well... one and a half_... Cuddy thought failing to suppress a smile in front of that sight.

"Ready?" He asked looking at her big eyes lighting up as she nodded.

Cuddy bit her lip and smiled as she looked at her daughter. Her small hand still had some difficulty moving on whites and blacks keys as House had taught her, and occasionally she helped herself using a finger of her other hand, however, being able of emanate from those keys that unmistakable notes...

 _E... D#... E... D#... E ... b... D ..._ _C ... a..._

Unsteady... and completely out of rhythm... but the most beautiful _Für Elise_ she had ever heard... although with more than one discordant note ...

House looked alternately at Rachel's hand and at her focused eyes and smiled, biting his lip in turn trying to make the chord played by his own hand as much as possible in rhythm with her notes. Notes she memorized on that single afternoon. In her own way she had some talent. _In her way_. He mentally laughed at that thought. Beethoven was probably turning in his grave. And a few years earlier he would have been horrified by such a melody. Or at least he would have found that ridiculous. But... even him had been relentlessly struck by the pride that every father has for the littlest progress of their children.

He looked at Rachel as she pressed on the last key and smiled at him with all her twenty little teeth before smacking a kiss on his lips, laughing as his stubble tickled her, and then rapidly getting off his leg to run in her mother's arms.

"We just need to review a little the technique" House said laughing watching Cuddy as she ruffle Rachel's hair.

...

* * *

Cuddy walked into the living room and looked at him. He was still sitting at the piano apparently focused on his music, but he looked up as soon as she approached.

"She was so excited she didn't want to sleep" she said, smiling, leaning on the piano and looking at House.

He lifted his hands from the keys and put them on her hips, drawing small circles with his thumbs on the fabric of her jeans.

"She's not the only one getting _excited_ when I play" he said mischievously making her smile as she bent to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"Your hands are very _exciting_ " she whispered on his mouth taking his face in her hands and looking into his eyes while his hands moved on her bottom.

He slightly lowered her jeans, revealing a small strip of her skin just above her pubis and kissed her belly below her navel before unbuttoning her jeans, pausing to tease her skin with his tongue as his thumb teased the light down now appearing from the hem of her panties.

"Do you want to see how I can play _your keys, Elise_?" He said with a deep voice, without looking up at her moving his thumb a bit more down in her panties as she kept her hands on his nape and breathed in his hair.

He moved his other hand between her legs, touching her through her jeans. The way in which she pushed her private parts against the palm of his hand and the moan she stifled kissing his hair were a clear _yes_.

"You were already thinking about this, weren't you?" He said slyly, lowering her jeans even more and slipping a bit more his hand into her panties, feeling how much hot and ready for him she already was.

"Yes..." she whispered with a smile on his hair as his hand went even further into her panties "... I'm jealous of how your fingers caress those keys..." she added, still smiling "... your hands... they're just mine... "

"Always" he replied pushing a finger inside her and making her miss her breath for a moment.

She clung closer to him as he continued to excite her with his fingers. God, the things he could do to her with those hands! It was true. The bare thought was enough to turn her on. And to turn him on... just at the thought of how much turned on she was at that bare thought! His index and middle finger moved inexorably inside her while at the same time he excited her with skilled movements of his thumb. Her legs shook and she stifled her moans in his hair.

He found her breasts with the other hand caressing her through her bra and slipping his hand in it finding her nipple and gently pinching it with his fingers. He looked at her again while he lifted her shirt. He loved the slight blush on her cheeks and neck. She was close. So close. And he saw her close her eyes to that intense pleasure, biting her lip again to keep from screaming.

Grace's crying made her suddenly open her eyes meeting House's. But however, he didn't stop his hand.

"Greg ..." she moaned trying to stop him, hearing her daughter calling her name from her crib.

House didn't stop his hand, but rubbed it even stronger against her most sensible spot, making her close her eyes again and making her legs shake more.

 _Too close. Too much._

His mouth found her nipple and he sucked hard, hearing her moan on his neck as she rubbed her pelvis more on his hand and the world dissolved in front of her eyes giving way just to pleasure.

She heard Grace voice calling her name again and House answering to their daughter's call.

"She' _s coming_ , Gracie" He yelled across the room, before whispering, laughing, into Cuddy's ear... "Mom _'s coming_... in both senses of the term." Cuddy laughed in turn in the crook of his neck, trying to control her still extremely labored breathing.

House looked for her mouth and kissed her deeply. She smiled as she broke away from his lips.

"You'll pay for this" she said with a smile still touching his tongue before buttoning her jeans and settling her shirt.

"I hope so" he replied winking, looking at her as she left the room stopping on the doorframe and turning to glance mischievously at him.

...

* * *

He looked at her as he entered the living room after about ten minutes, holding Grace in her arms. House was still sitting where she had left him and rolled his eyes as soon as he met Cuddy's gaze.

"Doesn't she want to sleep?" He asked looking at the little one clung to her mother's neck.

"What do you think?" She replied with half-annoyed and half-amused look putting Grace in his arms.

House looked at her and couldn't help but smile. Her pink Barbapapa pajamas. Her messy brown curls. And two smiling big blue eyes.

"You're a killjoy, do you know it, don't you?" He said lifting her in front of him and kissing her tummy, tickling her.

She laughed moving her little arms and legs, before taking his face in her tiny hands kissing, or rather licking, his nose.

Cuddy looked at them, smiling, and put a hand on House's shoulder tapping on it.

"Admit it" she whispered, smiling, kissing his cheek "This killjoy is also a daddy's girl"

House gave her a mock glare as he sat down Grace on his lap.

"Go and take her bottle, woman!" He said seriously, spanking her bottom.

Cuddy looked back at him, slightly raising an eyebrow and looking at him with the same look she usually gave to him in her hospital.

"Do you like to play the boss, don't you?" She said running her tongue on her lips.

He held her gaze but wrapped her waist with his arm, forcing her to lean on him.

"... not as much as you like it" he said sucking her lip and making her smile as she leaned her forehead to his.

"... I like _you_..." she said looking into his eyes, stroking his stubble and brushing his tongue with hers.

"Go and take her bottle, Mom" he repeated with a smile on her lips continuing to look into her eyes "... so then I can take... _you_ " he whispered in her ear.

He looked at her as she smiled and shook her head slightly as if to say _"you will never change"_ and he kept to look at her ass as she walked away toward the kitchen, swaying slightly.

...

* * *

She looked at the calendar hanging on the wall as she took the box of baby biscuits from the shelf. _May 16_. For years it had been just a date on a calendar. It still was... but now she wondered how well she could remembered the May 16 of the previous year. And of the year before. And the one before. It had become _"the day before"_ ... the day before her wedding, the day before the results of Grace's tests, the day before the collapse of that crane in Trenton... and now... the day before Mia's surgical intervention.

The microwave timer woke her up from that thought. She added a couple of biscuits in the warm milk and shook the bottle before walking back in the living room.

"She has her technique too" he said with a smile looking at Grace's tiny hands pressing random keys on the piano completely distorting the lullaby House was instead trying to play for her with his right hand.

She wanted to stay in daddy's arms as she drank her milk. Her little head resting on his chest. Her tiny hands wrapped around her bottle. Her eyes almost mesmerized by the hand of him moving on the keys, releasing a slow and sweet lullaby. Cuddy could have stayed there to watch them for hours. Simply lost in the infinite sweetness of that sight. She continued to watch House's left hand clutching Grace...

 _... 'I'm a mother now. I need a guy I can count on every single day. That's never been House '_... how wrong I was that morning, she thought. And even of that day she perfectly remembered _the day before_. The _'80s party_. That _Time after Time_ in his arms. He had told her he have always been interested in her... and she had run away... literally... in the arms of another man...

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice silence taking the place of that melody. Sitting on the couch, her eyes closed, her head resting on the couch arm and her legs curled up in a fetal position.

"The lullaby wasn't for you" he whispered in her ear, stroking her thigh as he sat on the couch beside her.

Cuddy smiled, but didn't open her eyes continuing to savor that caress.

"I took Grace to bed, but you'll have to go with your pretty feet" he said kissing her neck.

She sat up slightly and looked at him, smiling, before intertwining her legs around his waist pulling him toward herself, and putting her arms around his neck looking for his lips.

"Maybe... I don't want to go to bed..." she said, looking into his eyes as he smiled in turn and found her tongue.

...

* * *

Half an hour later they were both naked on that same couch. They had used a light blanket to cover themselves... just in case of further interruptions... but it had now slipped from Cuddy's shoulders, barely covering her bottom as she moved, naked, on him. Her hands on his shoulders, her knees sunk into the couch while she kissed him passionately on the mouth. House was leaning with his back to the backrest of the couch. A hand in her hair, loose on her shoulders, and the other on her back. He followed the movements of her pelvis, lost in the feeling of being trapped between her legs. Deeply and totally into her. He had already given her another orgasm. More precisely... his tongue had given her another orgasm. But he couldn't get enough of her pleasure. And now he just wanted to come inside her... with her ...

"God, Lise... yeah ..." he gasped putting both hands on her ass to be even more inside her, feeling the pleasure growing uncontrollably.

But it wasn't his wife's moan to make him open his eyes...

... The ring of a cell phone...

He met her gaze for a split second before they both close their eyes just to reopen then suddenly. Almost 11 pm. A flash of panic passed in the eyes of both of them.

"Mia..." Cuddy whispered as she stood up wrapping the blanket around herself and looking for the phone. House looked at her as the phone almost slip from her hand before she took the call, rolling her eyes as soon as she heard the voice on the other end of the line. _Taub._

She slightly smiled as she handed the phone to House, then sitting next to him and resting a hand on his thigh. Annoyed by that interruption. Relieved that the call wasn't about Mia.

"I hope for you that it's important" House said irritably, closing his eyes and leaning his head against the back of the couch. His left hand resting on his crotch to cover part of his now partial erection.

His patient had worsened. The new set of symptoms was exciting... but not as exciting as what his fellow had just interrupted... He glanced at Cuddy who was sitting next to him, and she returned the glance. A more mischievous look than he would have expected. He looked away from her eyes just to focus on her mouth and on her tongue sensually moistening her lips. That sight was enough to send a shudder in his groin awakening his instincts, and even more when she moved the hand with which he was covering himself putting it on her own hip as she slowly straddled him again. House looked into her eyes as she smiled and bent to kiss his neck, rubbing her pelvis against him, but without taking him into her.

He listened to the voice on the other end of the line answering just in monosyllables and with some _hhhmmm_ from time to time, while his team kept to set out the results of the tests... one by one... in an endless long list...

He pressed the phone against his own chest and whispered in her ear a barely audible _'you're evil'_... before putting the phone on his ear again. She smiled, without stopping to kiss his neck. _'No'_ she whispered in his ear before biting his lobe slightly as her fingers stroked his chest and abdomen and moved further down wrapping his erection with her hand ... _'Now... I'm evil'_ she added, meeting his gaze again. Malicious and evil at the same time. And sexy. And wanderful.

A slightly different _hhhmmm_ came from his lips to the feeling of her hand moving slowly along his length. _'God... Lisa'_ ... House's eyes silently begged mercy... and he looked at her as she let him go, moving her hands on his shoulders... but it wasn't mercy what he read in those wonderful eyes ... _desire ... lust... pleasure..._ _NO, she wasn't going to have mercy of him..._ he knew it for certainty when he saw her standing up and staying for a while naked in front of him, before putting her hands on his legs, stroking his thighs as she knelt between his legs, taking him again in her hand.

He cleared his throat to disguise another groan. A naked Lisa Cuddy, kneeling in front of him was too much to bear... and even more when she bent over him, moving the hair from her face before taking him in her mouth. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, fighting the need to gasp. He tried to focus on Taub's voice... but the only thing he could focus on was the warmth of her mouth and the softness of her tongue. She had promised him that she would have made him to pay for his ministration of a few hours before... and she was doing it...

Focus on that list of symptoms was almost impossible ... his brain was completely lost in that pleasure... _An incredibly obese rich guy, hospitalized after a faint, with pain and weakness in his left arm. The cardiac cause was the most probable, but his heart looked perfect. And also his carotids. And his brain scan. He had worsened in the last hour... and now he was cyanotic..._

He covered the receiver again searching her face with his hand, unable not to smile at her, running his tongue on his lips as he met her eyes.

"My lungs are about to explode" he whispered with difficulty so imperceptibly that she could barely hear him "... and... not only my _lun._.."

Cuddy recognized that flash in his eyes and slowed her pace as he put the phone back on his ear, but continued to slowly massage him with her hand, teasing him with her tongue from time to time.

"Do..." he said with difficulty trying to articulate the words still stroking her face with his hand "Do a chest CT scan"

He inhaled deeply before speaking again ... " _It's a Claude-Bernard-Horner Syndrome_. Eyelid ptosis... cough... husky voice ... he's not only a bad-looking heavy smoker... he's got a _Pancoast cancer_. A very advanced stage. It blocks the superior vena cava. And here it's the cyanosis. I'm not surprised you have missed facial swelling since he looks like a balloon. But, if you can find his neck you should see the distention of his neck veins... _superior vena cava syndrome_ ... Do the CT for confirmation. And call Wilson tomorrow morning. He will be dead in less than one month... you don't need me there..." he said without leaving Taub time for answer "... and frankly even my boss doesn't want me there right now... I'm already busy with my _homework_!" He said in the same sarcastic tone he generally reserved to Cuddy in hospital, glancing extremely mischievously at her before abruptly end the call, launching the phone between the couch cushions.

Cuddy held his gaze for a moment, stopping the hand that had continued to massage him very very slowly while he made his diagnosis. His detachment from the patients hadn't changed. His way of not getting involved. Or scared by death. He could watch a man die without flinching... and only a few minutes before she had felt him shaking at the bare ring of the phone at the thought that something could have happened to his daughter... Two completely different sides of the same person.

She rolled her eyes and couldn't suppress a half-smile.

 _"Homework?"_ she repeated, raising an eyebrow and looking into his eyes with a raised eyebrow.

House held her gaze and suddenly grabbed her arms making her stand up before pushing her in one motion with her back on the couch, falling then on top of her. He lifted one of her leg and entered her in one deep, sharp thrust watching her as she shut her eyes closed, biting her lip to keep from screaming, but moaning in that intense feeling of pleasure. He pushed again inside her closing in turn his eyes. He could already feel her tremble. Already so close to another orgasm. He opened his eyes and touched her lips with her tongue making her open her eyes.

"Do you get excited when I solve a case, Cuddy?" He asked with a sly smile staying deeply inside her and looking at her breast as it rose and fell rapidly.

"Always" she replied looking into his eyes and seeking his tongue kissing him passionately while he began again to move inside her, and she moved with him.

That one word was enough to send him over the edge. Not that he didn't already know. He knew that she was turned on by their fights in the hospital as much as she was annoyed. Always. It had always been part of the game. Twenty years of foreplay. But to hear it from those lips as they made love, trapped inside her and between her legs, it was more erotic than he thought. And their moans got lost in each other along with their _I love you_ as he came inside her, and she followed him in that extreme pleasure.

They stayed embraced continuing to kiss, slowly and gently, without stopping to look at each other. Gentle movements of lips and tongues. Lost in each other.

Cuddy reached out taking the blanket and covering them both. Or rather... covering House, because actually his body was covering hers. The cold was the last thing she felt as she got lost in his embrace and his body kept her pressed against the coach cushions. She clung closer to him and not let him go away when he tried to pull back. On the contrary she wrapped her legs around his buttocks, continuing to savor the feel of him inside her and the feeling of him relaxing into her. It was in a sense something more intimate then passion in itself.

"Haven't you had enough?" He whispered smiling mischievously on her lips, sucking on her lip, slightly raising the chest and leaning better on his elbows.

"I never have enough..." she smiled on his lips, stroking his back and shoulders "... _of you_ " she pointed out as he bent to kiss her again.

"So... did it really turn you on seeing my genius at work" he said, laughing, moving a strand of hair behind her ear and looking at her mouth while stroking her cheek and then her lips with his thumb.

"You can't even imagine how much" she answered, smiling and kissing the tip of his finger that touched her, meeting his mischievous and at the same time amused look.

"Not so much like watching my boss giving me a blowjob while my genius is at work" he replied looking at her straight in the eyes.

" _Your wife_." She pointed out letting out a laugh and slapping his shoulder " _Your boss_ never gave you a blowjob to make you solve a case." She said.

"Well... she should." He said laughing "You're my muse. Let' say... like Elise for Beethoven, _Lise_..."

"You're so romantic!" She ironically replied taking his face in her hands and kissing him again.

"You are so beautiful"

She laughed.

"You're an ass!" She laughed again, shaking her head slightly.

"You've got a gorgeous ass" he laughed, looking for her lips again.


	31. A new chapter

**CHAPTER 31 - A new chapter**

 **...**

* * *

House opened his eyes in the darkness of the room. Cuddy wasn't in their bed. He set his pillow trying to ignore the pain in his leg and hoping to go back into the oblivion of the Land of Nod. But the empty half bed wasn't an aid for that purpose. Not even 4 am... too early for yoga... He ran a hand over his face and rubbed his leg before sitting up on the bed, taking his pills from the nightstand. He put some on his palm and looked at them for a while in the twilight, undecided on how many to take. _Medium pain... 400 mg of ibuprofen... two pills... strong pain... 600 mg... three pills._ He kept them in his hand before dry-swallow a couple of them. He could also shallow them all, but he knew they wouldn't make him feel good anyway. Maybe _better_ , but not _good._ That night the pain in his leg had the same cause of Cuddy's insomnia... He got out of bed and put on his pajama bottoms, looking unsuccessfully for his shirt between the sheets before leaving the room. Bare feet and chest.

He paused in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the doorway and looking at Cuddy from behind as she was intent on pulling out from a box a stack of small pastel-colored rompers that had been of Grace and Rachel. He looked at her for a moment. Her slightly messy hair loose on her shoulders. A shirt covering her bottom and thighs. ' _Here where my pajamas shirt was!'_ He thought, smiling to himself, pausing to look at her bare legs. Barefooted. She wasn't _little_ , but she was very _little_ compared to him. Especially without her heels.

"Isn't it a bit too early to tidy up?" He whispered to not scare her.

She turned to face him smiling slightly as he approached her putting his hands on her waist.

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you..." she whispered looking into his eyes before looking again at the white and pink romper in her hand, resting it on the table next to the others.

"She won't be at home with us so soon..." House said, stroking her hip with his thumb.

"I know" she replied "But... I can't sleep... and I had to find something to do..."

"I can help you to find _something_ to do if you want" he said with a smile she knew even too well, looking at her mouth and then at her eyes before touching her lips with his. Cuddy let out a small laugh.

"How nice!" She replied with a hint of irony in her voice, raising an eyebrow but smiling, putting her hand on his bare chest as he wrapped her waist more with both arms.

"It's normal to be nervous" he said, brushing her lips and rubbing her back with both hands.

Cuddy nodded "I know... and I know I have the best surgeons... but..."

House leaned his forehead on hers without saying anything, just stroking her back.

"Come, let's go back to bed" he said, kissing her lightly on the lips.

Cuddy sat down on the bed with her back against the pillow, covering herself with the sheet and looking at House as he sat down beside her, handing her a pack wrapped in yellow paper.

She looked at him quizzically taking the pack from his hands and letting out a smile as soon as she unwrapped it.

"Theoretically... this is already mine" she said, laughing meeting his gaze and turning that old book in her hands.

 _Approach to acute abdomen. By Dr. Ernest Cuddy._

"I know" he said, smiling in turn, and opening it for her.

Cuddy lightly touched the inscription on the first page and smiled. She could still read the _"old"_ inscription, handwritten by House exactly three years earlier.

 _To Lisa and Lucas. Here's to a new chapter. Best. Greg._

and... the _new version_ of it... in which a line crossed Lucas's name and the word 'best'.

 _To Lisa._ _Here's to a new chapter._ _Yours. Greg._

"So maybe you won't use it anymore as a doorstop" he said, looking into her eyes and smiling.

A laugh escaped from Cuddy's mouth as she still looked at the book in her hands and nodded.

"Thanks" She said smiling slightly and touching that inscription again with the tip of her finger before stroking his stubble and kiss him lightly on the lips.

She looked again at that inscription and bit her lip.

"I didn't love him..." she whispered not looking at him, continuing to look at those two names, one next to the other, even if now one of them was crossed. _Lisa and Lucas_. She was going to marry him... She was looking for stability... she wanted to close her eyes at night knowing of not be alone... The _easiest way_... not the one she really wanted... And she couldn't help to her mind to go back for a moment to that morning in her office... and at that May 16 of three years before... her engagement party... with Lucas... and the after-party in his apartment ... in his bed... "Being with him was in a sense...er... safe... you on the other side were...unpredictable..." she whispered still looking at that inscription.

"I still am" he said making her look up and smile.

"Yeah" she said, shaking her head "And it's one of the things I love about you" she added, stroking his stubble before letting out a little laugh. House looked at her quizzically and she answered his question before he asked. "That day Lucas and I really started _a new chapter_... just... _not together_ " she said looking into his eyes.

"Yeah" he said, smiling "I really don't want to think about what _he_ was doing to you three years ago at this time, Cuddy!" He said teasingly looking at her with a mischievous look, and bringing the conversation on a lighter level.

She rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Me neither, _House_ " she said, shaking her head "I prefer to think about what _you_ did to me the day after" she added, running her tongue over her lips without looking away from the blue of his eyes.

"Because you're a lucky girl!" He said, smiling "... and _Ape-man_ wasn't your type at all anyway!" He added, teasing her.

Cuddy couldn't suppress a laugh.

"Am I wrong or I can hear a shade of sarcastic jealousy?" She said, laughing "And how would be _my type_?" She asked teasing him in turn "Tall, handsome and with a cane?"

"You always had a soft spot for _my cane_ " he said, looking straight at her with a mischievous look.

"Yeah" She replied with the same look favoring his game and his two-way "I have a soft spot for your cane and for your big..."

"Penis?"

"EGO, _House_ " laughed "..for your _big ego_..." she repeated, laughing, watching him laugh in turn.

He liked the sound of her laughter. He liked the way her eyes laughed with her mouth. And he kissed her as she laughed, at first only slightly and then more deeply holding her face with one hand.

He slid his hand from her face to her neck then stroking her shoulder and down along the curve of her waist and hip before gently stroking her thigh and moving up under her shirt. He smiled on her mouth at the feeling of goose-bumps appearing on her smooth skin as at the same time she stroked his arm and back whispering an _I love you_ as soon as her eyes met his.

She stroked his arms again, pulling him on top of herself and opening her legs so that his body could fit perfectly with hers, and closed her eyes for a moment deeply inhaling and exhaling at the sensation of his erection against her panties.

House sucked her lip and then moved his mouth to suck her neck as she stroke his neck tilting her head back to give him better access to her neck. She needed him, and he needed her. Not her body. _Her_. And she needed _him_. They didn't need a night of sex, but to make love, lost in each other's arms. Slowly. And gently. He just wanted to be one with her and get lost in the warmth of her mouth and of her arms wrapped around his shoulders. _'I love you'_ ... he whispered on her lips looking into her eyes just for a moment before sliding inside her looking at her again as she closed her eyes at that sensation. Slow. Deep... he didn't leave her eyes as he moved inside her stealing her a moan with every thrust, and moaning with her, not leaving her lips. Cuddy wrapped a leg around his buttocks and the change of angulation made them both to startle.

"Oh God... Lise" he moaned holding his breath for a moment and resting his forehead on hers. Their eyes met in that intense feeling and Cuddy found his mouth, kissing him deeply still moving under him favoring his thrusts.

She wrapped both her leg around his waist and another deep groan escaped from both their lips.

"Oh Gr ..." she moaned while the second part of his name got lost in her throat. He was so deeply inside her that she could scream. She _wanted_ to scream. But she just dug her nails into his back hiding her head in the crook of his neck.

Another _'Oh my God'_ escaped Cuddy's lips as he thrust again inside her and she moved toward him at the same time, and they both stayed still for a moment to that strong feeling of pleasure. She could feel his balls pressing against the back of her own perineum and that feeling left them both breathless. House moved slightly, still completely inside her but rubbing his groin against her most sensitive spot and the world suddenly and almost unexpectedly dissolved in front of their eyes replaced only by an explosion of sensations. It was a rare experience even for them... not a few seconds one from each other... at the same time... it was rare even for them in spite of their sexual harmony... and it was certainly something that none of them had ever experienced with another partner. They could count that kind of orgasm on the fingers of one hand. Maybe two. And it happened only when they were very emotionally involved.

House leaned his forehead on Cuddy's and smiled, kissing her on the lips.

"Did I already tell that I love you?" He said smiling, brushing her lips and slightly finding her tongue again.

Cuddy smiled stroking his neck and holding him closer to her own lips.

"I'll never get tired of listening to those three words from you" she said gently, kissing him on the mouth.

"Good" he said laughing "Because I'm not going to stop" he added, looking once again for her tongue.

Shee broke away from the kiss and looked at him, stroking his hair.

"Thank you... for the book..." she whispered with the hint of a smile.

House caressed her face with his thumb.

"... and for _our new chapter_..." she added, kissing his thumb when it lingered on her lips.

 _Their new chapter. Mia._

He saw her eyes getting misty while she bit her lip slightly.

He kissed her lashes... her nose ... and lips...

"You should get some sleep..." House said changing the subject "... tomorrow it will be a long day..." he added, moving to her side still hugging her "and about the book ... you already thanked me... that day in your office" he said smiling.

Cuddy smiled.

"That day in my office... I didn't thank you as I should..." she said stroking his face.

House ran his tongue on her lips and looked into her eyes.

"Well... to be honest, Cuddy... you thanked me more for this book than _Lucas_ for his engagement ring" he said letting out a laugh.

She laughed and nodded, kissing him tenderly on the lips.

"I want to write many more chapters with you..." she said on his lips.

"With my _magic pen_?" House said, raising an eyebrow, playing down again their conversation. A serious talk would have made her cry... and it was the last thing he wanted...

Cuddy rolled her eyes, and lightly slapped him on the arm, however, letting out a laugh.

"No" she said, laughing "Sleep!" She said slightly kissing him on the lips again, and turning off the light, then resting her head on his chest.

House's voice broke the silence again after several minutes. He wasn't asleep... and not even her...

"Lisa?"

"... hhhmmm? ..." She replied without moving nor opening her eyes.

"I want to write many more chapters with you..." he whispered, kissing her hair.

She didn't answer, but smiled in the dim light of the room, kissing his chest and then resting her head again on his chest, slowly letting herself go to sleep.

...

* * *

"Happy anniversary" Wilson said approaching Cuddy while she waited in line at the cafeteria.

"Thank you, James" she said, turning to look at him and smiling.

They ordered two coffees and waited in front of the counter arguing over who should pay the bill until the salesgirl handed two hot paper cups to Cuddy and Wilson took advantage of her full hands to hand a bill to the girl.

Cuddy gave him a glare that immediately broke into a smile as she handed him his cup, taking a sip of hers.

"Your husband never makes a fuss for a paid coffee, Cuddy!" He said, laughing and shaking his head "Not even for a whole meal to tell the truth. You're _a House_ now, you should get used to this" he added.

"I'm not sure you can handle two" she laughed, thanking him for the coffee.

Wilson nodded as he took a sip of his coffee and they both walked down the hallway.

"Literally it's five of you" he said, smiling "Fortunately, it seems that the girls have taken after you!"

"Maybe, _Uncle Wilson_ " Cuddy said smiling.

They entered together Cuddy's office and Wilson looked at the stack of paperwork on her desk.

"Leave them to me!" He said nodding toward the documents. She hadn't asked to be replaced, but Mia's surgery was scheduled for the early afternoon and even if she always tried to be a _wonder woman_ , he knew she couldn't manage the hospital and the child at the same time. She wasn't a patient! She was her daughter!

"I don't know... work keeps me from thinking ..." she replied "... waiting in front of the door of the operating room... it could drive me crazy..." she said looking down.

Wilson looked at her and nodded slightly.

"You're her mother now, not her doctor... your place is in the chair next to her crib, not in _that_ chair" he said in a soft tone, moving his head toward the chair behind her desk.

He looked at Cuddy as she bit her lip and nodded, rubbing her neck before nodding at him, whispering a 'Thanks... just _for a few days._ ' He didn't expected anything different from her.

...

* * *

Cuddy had tried to keep her stoic attitude of hospital boss again, but she had instead found herself walking for hours back and forth in front of the door of the operating room, staring at the words _"no entry to unauthorized personnel"_ and turning nervously one hand into the other one.

Of course she could walk through that door. But she had chosen not to do that. The mere thought of Mia on the table of the operating room was enough to make her feel sick ... so much that she almost felt faint... and the last thing she wanted was actually to collapse on that floor. She kept looking at the clock on the wall and then to her wristwatch as if she thought that one of them had stopped. She could feel the weight of every second... of every minute... of every hour... while House rhythmically tapped his cane on the floor, beating the time of every one of those long seconds.

"It won't walk faster just because you continue to watch at it..." House said, nodding his head toward the clock and looking into her eyes.

Cuddy bit her lip and ran a hand on her forehead, then letting her arms drop to her sides and going to sit down next to him. House put a hand on her knee and looked at her without saying anything.

...

* * *

The surgery lasted several hours... Mia needed to be in the ICU for several days and in hospital for a few weeks.

 _She'll be fine_... those were the only words Cuddy was able to understand... and she didn't need anything else. Wilson was right... she wasn't her doctor right now... she was her mother...

Teddy smiled at her when she walked out of that door, taking off her surgical mask and cup, and explaining to her and House the details of the surgical intervention... _left thoracotomy... resection of the tight tract... end to end anastomosis... no need of extracorporeal circulation..._ but her mind had actually stopped at the word _'thoracotomy'_ and at the image that had appeared in front of her eyes to the sound of that word. Everything else got lost as if Teddy's lips moved but her brain couldn't process that information.

 _And she just wanted to see her daughter..._

Being the hospital boss gave her a preferential access and for once she could understand what does it could mean to be just an 'ordinary' mother and be kept out of that glass door. There was nothing she could do for her daughter but just to wait for her wake up and for her vital parameters to normalize... but being next to her gave her a sense of relief. Although she was still under the drugs effect, connected to a huge amount of wires and monitors, constantly measuring her vital parameters. Her small bandaged chest from which drainage pipes flowed out. Cuddy had caressed her tiny hand, letting the tears she had been holding in nurse's presence fill her eyes, but still without letting them to roll down her cheeks. House hadn't said anything and he had just stroked her back.

Of course she had refused to go home and he hadn't tried to change her mind. At any rate he knew he had no way to succeed... She had asked the nurses to move a little couch in Mia's room. Another privilege of being the hospital boss.

"I'll get you something from the cafeteria" he told her, kissing her temple as she curled up on the couch smiling slightly at him.

And tiredness got the better of her.

...

* * *

House watched her as he entered the darkened room.

Cuddy was still curled up on the little couch. Jeans and a T-shirt. Her hair tied in a ponytail. She had tried not to fall asleep, but tiredness had got the better of her. Mia seemed asleep, but actually the right word was 'sedated'... she wasn't conscious of the world around her... and House thanked that she wasn't as he brushed her little hand... he knew pain very well and would have wanted to spare her the pain she was going through in the coming hours ... he thanked _the God in whom he didn't believe_ that she was just a four-month-old... that scar was going to be her only reminder of those days. He stood there for a moment just watching her and stroking her blond hair before sitting down next to Cuddy. He sat down trying not to wake her, stretching his legs in front of himself and closing his eyes, tilting his head back and resting it against the wall.

Cuddy woke with a start inhaling deeply as if gasping for air and feeling like if her heart had missed a beat, suddenly sitting up and watching Mia's monitor. House opened his eyes immediately.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked looking at her as she nodded running a hand over her face and then checking her own pulse.

"Extrasystoles?" He asked still looking at her and taking in turn her wrist to check her pulse.

"I'm fine, Greg" She said meeting House's gaze "I'm just a bit tired..." she added, stretching her legs toward him as he took her feet, massaging them.

He took one of the two paper bags he had placed near the couch and handed it to her. Two sandwiches. A diet coke and a bottle of mineral water.

"Thanks" she said, smiling, watching him as he took his paper bag.

"Hummus and avocado" he said, pointing to the sandwich in her hand "it's not the _Artemisia's_ cooking I promised you, but it's the closest thing to a vegetarian dinner I could find" he added taking even his sandwich from the bag. No, it wasn't the kind of dinner he had promised her for their wedding anniversary, but neither of them cared. The only thing they had cared about was that Mia could undergo the surgery as soon as possible. And that was just a trivial anniversary. He didn't love her more than the day before or more than he would have loved her the day after that.

"Normality is overrated" she said, laughing, quoting one of his famous phrases and looking at him as he smiled, nodding "I wouldn't like to be anywhere else right now" she said, glancing at Mia's crib and then looking again at House, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"What is it? Ham?" She asked after a few minutes pointing to House's sandwich "...well... _was_ " She rectified, laughing, while House swallowed the last bite.

"Ham and cheese" He replied stroking one of her foot "I'm waiting for _your God_ to strike me with lightning for this very _anti-kosher_ sandwich!"

Cuddy nodded, but laughed.

"I hope HE have better things to do!" She replied laughing "And if He wanted to strike _us_ with lightning He would have already done it" she added moving closer to him and brushing his lips with hers as he looked into her eyes.

House took the hand with which she was stroking his cheek and drew it to his lips, kissing it with a tenderness that sent a shiver down her spine... The same man who just a few hours earlier had sharply reproached the young nurse that had missed to note one of Mia's vitals on her medical record, making her blush and stammer... the same man who just a few hours earlier had called one of the surgeon of the OR an idiot...

"Us? Because you work on Shabbat? Or because you got married to a non-jew? ... An atheist moreover... Or because...?"

"Shut up" she whispered with a smile on her lips zeroing the distance between their mouths and kissing him deeply and slowly.

"Are you really sure you're Jewish?" He asked smiling looking at her mouth as she broke away from his lips, then looking into her eyes.

She didn't answer, looking at his mouth as she brushed his lips with her tongue, smiling.

"Do you know what people say about _your people_?" He looked at her with a raised eyebrow with a mischievous look and she laughed, taking his face in her hands.

"Surely you've never need to resort to the _four hours of begging_ " she whispered with a smile on his lips stealing him a laugh before he found her mouth.

...

* * *

...

* * *

Author's note: I'm not Jewish, so sorry if maybe I wrote something wrong (I don't know anything about _kosher_ and _Shabbat_ and so on...) About the "four hours of begging" I found out it's a sort of saying or joke about Jews and I just found it in one of the episode of the series but right now I don't remember which one (Do someone remember that red-haired half-jew girl that had a job interview with House trying to be a member of the team? House asked her about these "4 hours of beggings" - obviously alluding to sex. I really can't remember which episode was...) Well, again I hope this "joke" didn't upset none of you. Thank you for reading and... have I already told you a really really really love your reviews? ;)


	32. Gifts

**Chapter 32 - Gifts**

 **...**

* * *

House stepped into Cuddy's office and stood at the bathroom door meeting her gaze through the mirror while she put her make-up on.

"Are you ready?" He asked, leaning against the doorframe and watching her as she put some mascara on her lashes "You don't need all that stuff" he added, meeting her gaze in the mirror.

"Practically I haven't been sleeping for three weeks... I _definitely_ need it!" She replied smilingly "Or you're really blinded by love!" She added, looking at him through the mirror.

She had taken a shower and got dressed directly in her office. They had finally been able to carve out a bit of time for themselves after the bustle of the last few weeks and he didn't want to waste a second of that Friday night. She wore a simple black dress, a long necklace of turquoises knotted at one end and a pair of pumps.

She turned to House and smiled.

"How is Mia? Have you talked to Dr. Hayes?"

"She's fine. And, for your joy, she drooled on the tie you bought me" he said with the hint of a smile, showing her the tie now rolled up in his pocket. "Hayes wants to repeat some tests on Monday. A few days at most and then she can come home" he said seeing her smile.

Cuddy smiled again, moving closer to him, and looked at House's hands as he coiled the end of her necklace around his fingers.

"Did you already ally also with her against me?" She asked smiling, looking at the tie in his pocket, now definitely unusable for their dinner, and resting a hand on his chest "Anyway... I love this shirt" she said looking into his eyes and running her tongue on her lips.

"Does it mean I can have all the same my birthday gift, Cuddy?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, letting go of her necklace and moving his hands on her hips and then on her butt.

"There are still four days to your birthday..."she replied mischievously gently patting her hand on his chest "... and for the record... _I_ 'm _not_ _a gift_..."

"But you're what I want" he replied increasing the grip on her buttocks "... and you should know by now that I'm not a guy who pay attention to this kind of event" he said, one inch from her lips.

Cuddy didn't answer, merely watching his mouth and lightly moisten her own lips with her tongue.

"I know. You hate gifts for anniversaries. And... you're not the kind of guy to whom give a tie" she said, looking into his eyes mischievously.

House nodded slightly cupping her butt more and giving her a small smack before moving his hands on her back.

"I'd kiss you... but I prefer to avoid being torn to pieces before dinner for having ruined your make-up" he said laughing holding her closer to him.

House looked at her lips, just an inch from his, and then again at her eyes. Her breath on his mouth was enough to turn him on and she closed her eyes for a moment before open them again, letting out a laugh.

"God, I can already feel your erection" she said on his lips moving a hand to stroke him through his trousers.

"Do you want to feel it _for real_ , Cuddy?" He said mischievously, raising an eyebrow and looking at her while she bit her lip, but shook her head slightly.

"Hold that thought" she said with a smile on his lips, but putting on tiptoe to kiss him, deliberately leaving lipstick on his mouth and cheek.

"This shade doesn't fit with your eyes" she said, laughing, patting with her hand on his shoulder and looking into his eyes before leaving the bathroom to get her jacket.

House looked at himself in the mirror, wiping his face with a hand, while an image appeared in front of his eyes. _A flash-back._ Or better. Not a real flashback ... because that image existed only in his mind, not in reality. Everything started there. For years after that night in Michigan he had denied his feelings for her... until his mind had literally _screamed_ what it wanted, revealing the truth that both of them consciously wanted to deny. His hallucinated subconscious knew him better than he knew himself. He kept to look at himself in the mirror, for a moment staring at his own eyes.

"You okay?" Cuddy asked appearing again on the doorframe.

House looked at her through the mirror and smiled, taking the lipstick she had left on the sink and tossing it to her. She looked at it as it twirled in the air before catching it. He watched her as she opened it, putting another layer of it on her lips before putting it in her purse. _It was real_. _She_ was real. _Wife._ _Friend. Lover._ He smiled as another thought passed through his mind. He had had an hallucination about having sex with her. Some great sex with her. But the real _her_ had far exceeded all his expectations. The best sex of his life. Ever. Simply because it's _not just sex_... he thought, putting an arm around her shoulders as they walked out together from her office.

...

* * *

"Remind me why are we having dinner here, Cuddy!" He said, looking up from the menu and looking around.

The _Artemisia's._ A small restaurant in modern style with some ethnic detail. Vegetarian and vegan cooking. Organic food. The kind of cooking she liked. The exact opposite of the kind of food _he_ liked.

Cuddy shook her head, looking up from the menu.

"You were the one who insisted to take me here, House" she said looking into his eyes and smiling.

"Just to get into your panties, Cuddy" he replied mischievously.

She laughed, shaking her head slightly.

"You definitely don't need to take me here for that" she said, looking mischievously at him in turn.

"I do something that makes you happy..." he said, looking at her even more maliciously "... so you'll want to thank me so much... that you'll give me something that will make me happy" he said running his tongue on his lips.

Cuddy held his gaze, smiling, but she couldn't reply, interrupted by the waitress who came to take their orders.

"I was thinking about calling Molly" Cuddy said, taking a sip of wine and fiddling with the engagement ring on her finger "... the girls are still small, but... we need at least another bedroom"

House set his glass on the table and looked at her with an amused look.

"Do you want a new _house_ and you tell me in this way?" He said looking into her eyes.

She rolled her eyes.

"A new apartment, _House_. Not a new husband" she said, looking into his eyes unable to suppress a smile "And this is really an awful joke..." she added, shaking her head slightly and then turning her head to look at the waitress as she approached their table with their dishes.

House watched Cuddy's dish with an intrigued look.

"What's that supposed to be?" House asked pricking with his fork a little yellow-orange cube in the dish that the waitress had just put in front of her, and studying it closely.

"Tofu with mango and curry" she laughed putting her fork near his mouth.

House shut his mouth closed with an expression that reminded her beyond any doubt of _Grace_ when she refused to eat her oatmeal for breakfast.

"That agglutinated soy will never touch the taste buds of a carnivore" he said letting out a laugh.

Cuddy shook her head, however unable to suppress a smile as he put instead in his mouth a fried onion ring.

"French fries and onions?" She asked him "Is it your version of a _vegetarian starter_?" She added, shaking her head.

"Last time I checked potatoes and onions were _vegetable_ , Lisa!" He said "I'm not a middle-aged woman who needs an extra of estrogens!" he added, laughing.

"Oh thank you" she replied glaring at him "... for your information, I'm not in menopause yet, _House_!" She added, looking into his eyes.

Her face was serious, but her eyes were laughing. Hers. And his. And they couldn't resist the temptation to continue to tease each other.

"I'm not the one turning 48 on Tuesday, House" she said looking at him with a smile somewhere between sly and evil.

"If you're thinking of giving me some _Viagra_ , save your money, _Cuddy_!" He said resting his chin on the palm of his hand and looking straight into her eyes.

"If you are thinking of giving me some _lube_ , save your own money, _House_!" She replied holding his gaze and resting in turn her chin on her palm.

They continued to stare at each other for a few seconds waiting for one of them to give up.

"Do you know that if we wait for one of us to give up, I will really need some Viagra and you some lube, don't you?" He said letting out a laugh and watching a smile appear in turn on her lips.

"Ass!" She laughed, shaking her head as she moved closer to him, kissing him lightly on the lips before stealing an onion ring from his plate and take it to her mouth.

House looked at her quizzically with a raised eyebrow. And Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"Do not analyze me!" She said, looking into his eyes "There's no mystery. They make me sick. As always. But if I don't eat at least a couple of them you're going to sleep on the couch tonight!" She said taking another onion ring from his plate and then a long sip of her Pinot Grigio trying to send away that strong flavor from her mouth.

...

* * *

House sat down on the bed and looked at her as she entered the bedroom.

"Can I have my _gift_ now?" He asked mischievously, raising an eyebrow and tapping lightly on the mattress, motioning with his hand for her to sit down near him.

Cuddy approached him and looked at him, taking his face with both hands and stroking his stubble with her thumbs as he put his hands on her butt making her smile.

"It's not your birthday yet" She said smiling, peeling off his jacket and unbuttoning a few buttons of his shirt as she leaned over him and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"I'm almost fifty years old! I could NOT get there, Cuddy!" He joked "It might be our last time" he added looking at her as she watched him with the same expression she reserved him in hospital when he said something very exasperating.

"Really?" She said, shaking her head "Are you _really_ resorting to _pity_ to have sex?" She asked with a serious expression on her face, staring at him. Serious features, but her eyes were actually more amused than serious.

"You're heartless!" He said drawing her closer to him and seeking her mouth before whispering "Not bad actually... because it's not _your heart_ that I want right now!"

Cuddy couldn't prevent a laugh from escaping from her lips as she slapped him lightly on the shoulder and broke away from him.

"I'm not an object!" She said looking into his eyes with a look somewhere between offended and amused.

House grabbed her hand and drew her to himself again, holding her between his legs and arms. He stroked her leg going up under the hem of her dress, but he withdrew his hand as soon as her hand slapped his. He looked up at her, but the disappointment in his eyes suddenly disappeared as soon as he met her amused gaze and her hands took his face again for a sweet kiss on the lips.

"Do you know what?" She whispered with a smile on his mouth, pulling out his shirt from his trousers and beginning to unbutton the remaining buttons of it "I've never been anyone's gift" she said, stroking his bare chest "... but I _want_ to be yours"

She looked into his eyes as she stepped back, turning to let him unzip her dress.

House stroked her back through the open zipper and saw her tilt her head back to that simple touch. She lingered a moment in that caress before making another step away from him, turning around to look again into his eyes. He didn't look away as she guided the dress from her shoulders and slid it along her arms and leg, letting it pool on the floor.

A _'Whoa'_ was the only sound that came from House's mouth as she walked back to him and he put his hands on her hips admiring her black and red lace lingerie. With garter belt.

She placed the tip of his pump on his knee. And she didn't need to talk. House removed her shoe and stroked her leg up to her thigh. He lingered to stroke with the tip of his fingers the lace top of her socking before unhook the garter. He slowly slid the stocking down her leg and dropped it on the floor. First one leg and then the other.

"My eyes are here" she whispered with a smile taking his chin and forcing him to look up at her eyes averting his eyes from her lace panties.

House smiled as she bent over him, brushing his lips and then his tongue.

"You know that if you go on like this I'll have to rip it off, don't you?" He said slyly brushing her tongue again.

"It's your gift... you can do whatever you want with it" she said mischievously letting his eyes linger again on her bra as his hand teased the elastic band of her thong and he stroked her butt "Do you like it?" She asked mischievously looking at him.

"It should be _illegal_ as a birthday gift to someone turning almost fifty, _Dr. Cuddy_ " He smiled still finding her tongue.

"Is it a yes?" She replied laughing.

"Definitely. But still illegal" he laughed.

"Vulgar?" She asked, looking into his eyes.

"Sexy" He replied in a persuasive tone drawing her to himself and sliding his hands on her buttocks "incredibly sexy" he repeated, kissing her skin before moving his hands on her back and then in her hair, kissing her passionately on the mouth, as she unbuttoned his trousers with one hand keeping the other one on the back of his head.

He drew her even closer to himself and in one quick move he made her lie down on her back on the bed, then staying for a moment to look at her, caressing her knee before finding her mouth again.

"Technically..." he added, raising an eyebrow, looking straight into her eyes.

"... I'm already yours" she whispered finishing the sentence for him and sending him a shudder in his groin.

"... Yes... you are" He said a deep voice, biting her lip and smiling at the way she could practically read his mind.

He looked again for her mouth and kissed her deeply before breaking away from her and getting up leaving her alone on the bed. Cuddy looked at him quizzically raising her head and then lifting even her back supporting herself on her elbows to watch him.

"I lied" he said, looking at her with a very mischievous look taking the rolled-up tie from his jacket pocket "I love ties" he said staring at her.

"No way!" She said, sitting up quickly as he sat down on the bed again, stroking that tie with his hands.

"I'm not the one who read _that kind of books_..." he said running his tongue on his lips glancing to the book on her night stand "Apparently women like to be _dominated_ by their men" he added, raising an eyebrow.

Cuddy followed his movements without turning her head toward the night stand, continuing to stare at him.

"It's Julia's." She said without flinching "I admit I was curious... but I read not even half of it and it's definitely not my thing" she said, looking into his eyes and trying to get up "Maybe I'm the only one in the United States not to drool for that book... but..."

She didn't finish the sentence because he pushed her back on the bed holding her arms above her head with one hand and kissed her deeply on the mouth. He straddled her as he kissed her, holding her against the mattress, before releasing her mouth meeting her gaze.

"Leave me, _House_!" She said seriously trying unsuccessfully to wriggle out of his grip on her wrists.

House didn't let her go and instead bent down to kiss her neck repeatedly sucking behind her ear. The moans that escaped from her lips weren't signs of protest at all.

"Trust me" he whispered in her ear "I'm not going to tie you up" he said before sucking again on her skin "I promise you won't tell me to stop" he whispered on her lips as her vision darkened in the right instant he blindfolded her.

He released his grip on her wrists to tighten the tie and she didn't move. She could have pushed him away, but she didn't. Sure she trusted him. _Blindly_. And for the first time... in the literal sense of the word.

"I just want you to _feel_ me..." he whispered on her lips, sending a quiver in her lady part at the mere sound of those words.

And she let herself get lost only to that vortex of sensations as he kissed and licked every inch of her and his grip on her wrists held her arms above her head. All she could do was arch her back, pant and moan as his free hand caressed her and his mouth and fingers drove her crazy. She couldn't tell if he found some erogenous zones she didn't know to have or if she was strangely and unexpectedly turned on by that situation, but she felt totally lost in that pleasure. Or maybe really the lack of a sense amplifies the other senses. All she knew right now was that she couldn't stop the trembling of her own legs while he sent her repeatedly and relentlessly over the edge, leaving her barely time to recover before starting again.

He stopped only when he saw her suddenly put a hand on her lower abdomen holding back for a second her breath and biting her lip.

"Hey... are you ok?" He asked moving a hand toward her face to remove the blindfold so he could look into her eyes.

Cuddy stopped his hand before he got it and smiled. And he smiled back, kissing her on the mouth while her hand moved between their bodies wrapping his erection to lead it inside her. She let herself go again to that explosion of sensations as the images in her mind were more vivid than if she would have seen them with her own eyes. The sound of his breathing, his moans mixed with hers, the scent of his skin, the roughness of his stubble against her face as he kissed her, the softness of his tongue, the touch of his fingers that caressed her slightly as he thrust deeply inside her... she clearly felt her own folds to contract again around him as he poured himself into her, and she couldn't help but focus on the image that thought made appear in her mind, fueling her pleasure even more.

House let her recover and catch her breath before raising his head resting his forehead on hers, smiling. She couldn't see his smile but she could feel it... and she smiled back as he kissed her lips.

"I've lost count, Lisa" he said, laughing, rolling at her side.

"God... me too" she said, laughing in turn putting her hand on her stomach and staying still while her breathing was still labored.

House stroked her body with his hand before lightly lift her head to loosen the tie. He looked into her eyes as he kissed her again and she didn't look away, stroking his neck.

"Very... _different_... from what I thought" she said, smiling looking again for his lips and stroking his stubble.

House smiled.

"I'm not that _kind_ of man" he said, brushing her lips with his and nodding his head toward the book on her nightstand "I'd never use your body just for _my_ pleasure" he added, lightly biting her lower lip.

She smiled slightly biting her lip.

"Because you _vowed_ to love and _respect_ me...?" She whispered on his lips.

"No" he replied, looking into her eyes "Because I love you... and I _respect_ you" he said, kissing her again, this time slowly and deeply.

He broke away from that kiss and made her rest her head on his chest, savoring the feeling of her body close to his. A hand in her hair as the other held hers as it rested on his chest. He continued to stroke her hair feeling her to relax to that touch, so much that for a moment he thought she had fallen asleep, until he heard her laugh. He watched her as a smile appeared on her lips and she put her hand on her own forehead as if to send away an image from her mind.

"What's up?" He asked as he couldn't prevent her smile from being contagious.

"Julia..." she said, laughing and closing her eyes, shaking her head slightly "She gives Eric a tie virtually every year for his birthday" she said, opening her eyes and meeting House's look, a look somewhere between amused and horrified.

House shook his head, closing his eyes in turn before open them again to look at her.

"I knew your sister was a _desperate housewife_!" He said letting out a laugh.

"God, I'll no longer be able to look at her!" Cuddy said, covering her eyes with both hands.

"That will be the least of your problems, Cuddy" House said taking her hand away from her eyes "... I'll no longer be able to have an erection" he added, laughing.

Cuddy laughed in turn before looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Because you're thinking about the _wrong Cuddy_ , _House_ " she said, kissing him on the lips as he found her tongue again.

...

* * *

...

* * *

Author's note: I think you all guess what book is the one mentioned in this chapter. I read a half of it a few years ago and I decided it wasn't definitely my thing (I'm definitely too feminist for that) but I admit I had to change my mind a few years later. I read it again (all the 3 books this time) because of a bet with a friend and... I have to admit that, yes, Mr. Grey isn't what I thought at all. There was a justifications for his '50 shades' and for being what he was, and falling in love with his Ana changed him... I'm feminist but romantic too and... I liked when love can pull out the best side of a person (like this House 2.0 in my story). Well, I wrote this chapter before that bet so... ok... I learned that you never have to criticize something if first you don't know it well. Anyway I hope you enjoyed a bit of intimacy between House and his woman. His three other women are coming in the next chapter! See you soon.


	33. Gifts - Part 2

_House and his three girls... actually four! Here it is! Enjoy_

* * *

 **...**

 **Chapter 33 - Gifts - Part 2**

 **...**

* * *

House stepped into Cuddy's office and watched her as she raised her eyes from her computer. It was only 4 pm. And by the mountain of paperwork on her desk there was no chance they could go home together soon. He hated birthday gifts... but that would have been a perfect birthday gift! Not that he really cared much about the day that reminded him of his birth, indeed, he didn't care at all, but he had been in the hospital almost for two full days immersed in one case and now he just wanted to go home, take a shower and put a clean shirt on. Well, actually a clean shirt that would have been _clean_ for very little before a sticky little hand will probably leave its mark. He couldn't help but smile at that thought.

"I heard you gave yourself a gift" she said meeting his smug look.

"Actually that Ricketsia gave a gift to your hospital as the millionaire grandfather will reward the one who hired the great doctor who saved his grandson's life" he said, looking straight into her eyes.

Cuddy nodded, smiling.

"So... a certain _Dean_ should at least reward a certain _employee_... _do ut des_ , Cuddy!" He said with a mischievous look, raising an eyebrow "And I know that your mouth can do much more than scream at his poor employees!" He added, looking at her lips and stretching his cane toward her.

Cuddy looked at him seriously resting her chin on her palm and running her tongue on her lips.

"So...should I give a _blowjob_ to... _Taub_?" She asked, opening her eyes wide and looking at him without blinking "Because... technically... he was the one who found that Ricketsia" she said, biting her lip imperceptibly to keep from laughing.

House approached her resting his cane and then both his hands on her desk.

"He wouldn't have found it if I didn't tell him to look for it, Dr. Cuddy. But..." he said at one inch from her lips "... I'm not jealous! You would never be interested in the _reduced_ version!" He said making her smile before they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Excuse me, Dr. Cuddy, Mrs. Mayers is here" Nurse Brenda said from the doorframe as Cuddy just nodded before watching House, lightly stroking his lips and stubble, whispering an _'I promise I won't be late.'_

House looked up and down at that middle-aged woman as she walked through the door. He paused with the hand on the handle studying her for a long time before looking at Cuddy, who returned the look with a questioning gaze, while at the same time she shook hands with that woman.

"Just checking it wasn't Taub!" He said with a wink before heading out the door without looking back. He knew that she was smiling.

...

* * *

House was lying on the chaise-long in his office. Eyes closed and arms crossed on his chest. He didn't move when he felt a hand move his legs to make room and sit down. He might recognize her even with closed eyes. By her scent. And by her breathing. But he had the absolute certainty when she stroked his leg.

"I know you're not sleeping" she said, smiling continuing to stroke his leg from his ankle to his knee.

"Maybe you want to stroke even my _other_ leg" he said teasingly, but keeping his eyes closed, expecting an answer to his joke, or at most a slap on the arm, according to her mood.

Neither of them followed to his joke. He felt her move slightly on the chair to be more comfortable before the sound of a kiss and a little laugh broke the silence. House opened his eyes in the same instant in which his brain worked out that information and smiled meeting Mia's gaze and then Cuddy's as she said _"Let's say happy birthday to Daddy?"_

House looked at Cuddy as at the same time he took Mia from her hands. And then he looked at Mia failing to not smile.

"Are you going to spit up on me like your sister?" He said as he watched her smile reaching for his face with her tiny hands.

She liked his stubble. She laughed when her little soft hands met the roughness of his cheeks and she liked his mouth that played with her trying to eat her little hands as soon as they approached his lips. Cuddy could watch them for hours. She wasn't his daughter. Not biologically. But he looked at her in the same way in which he looked at Grace. And at Rachel. And in a sense... in the same way in which he often looked at her.

"She can come home" she said, smiling, meeting House's gaze.

"I talked to Hayes two hours ago. He didn't tell me anything " he said looking at her with a raised eyebrow as she bit her lip and smiled.

"Do you used your authority to make fun of me?" He asked, looking into her eyes as he couldn't help but laugh, slightly shaking his head as he watched her nod "This is unfair, Dr. Cuddy" he said smiling, drawing her slightly to himself and stroking her lips with his.

"Happy birthday" she whispered on his mouth looking into his eyes and then finding his lips for a tender and long kiss.

...

* * *

"How old are you Dad?" Rachel asked, looking up from her drawing.

"48" he said, ruffling her hair, smiling "I'm old, Rach"

Rachel looked at him with a puzzled look then looking at her hands and starting to count her fingers.

 _One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten._ She looked at her fingers before starting again. _Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen... twenty_. Her knowledge of numbers arrived at number 20. And House smiled as she began to list a series of random numbers... _thirty-one... twenty-four... one hundred and five... seventy-two_... then coming to _forty-eight_. She looked at him with a doubtful look when he tried to make her understand that it took nine hands plus three fingers to make the number forty-eight.

"And mom?" She asked with a serious look which gave her a very funny expression.

"Eight hands and three fingers" House replied "She's old too, Rachel"

Cuddy glared at House.

"But she didn't use a cane, Daddy" she said nonchalantly making him laugh as he met Cuddy's gaze.

"Yeah, I don't use a cane, Greg" Cuddy said again, laughing, bending over to kiss him on the cheek and patting him slightly on the shoulder before handing him a cup of coffee.

"Oh, you definitely use _my cane_ , Lisa" he whispered in her ear giving her a smack on the butt as she sat down on the floor beside him.

"I'm five years old" Rachel said to House showing him her open hand "Five" she repeated with pride "Grace is only one" she added "and Mia..."

She looked at her own hand from side to side. She knew that Mia was younger than Grace. And she liked Mia. She looked like a doll. She smiled, she hugged her, but she couldn't talk... nor walk. So she had to be less than one year old. But how could she be _less-than-one-finger_ old...?

"Grace is one and a half" House said grabbing two of her little fingers and bending one of them to do the _half "_ and Mia ... just a half" he said looking at her smile before looking at Cuddy as he heard the crying of Mia through the baby monitor that Cuddy had placed on the coffee table .

He watched her as she stood up and walked out of the room. Or rather he watched her butt as she walked out of the room. How could she be so sexy in a pair of yoga pants was still a mystery! She came back a few minutes later cradling a crying Mia, before putting her in his arms to go into the kitchen to prepare her baby bottle.

"It's not the screaming woman I hoped to have in my arms tonight!" He said looking at her raising an eyebrow as she couldn't help but roll her eyes at him before bending over to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"She won't be your unique gift"

...

* * *

A room. Three beds.

Cuddy closed the door lingering with her eyes on the colorful wooden letters attached to the bedroom door to form those three names.

 _Rachel. Grace._ _Mia._

She stood for a moment to look at those three names before being distracted by House's hand around her waist.

"Are you thinking of Jess?" He asked.

"It's strange but... no..." she replied, shaking her head " I don't know why but I was thinking of... Joy" she added, looking up at him "This had to be her bedroom..." she said looking at the door, not at House "... I still have the three letters of her name..." she said thinking about the three colorful wooden letters she still kept in a box in the closet bottom.

House just looked at her and said nothing, surprised by how she was just stating the facts. She wasn't sad at that thought. She was serene. As if that was only a part of her life she had left behind her shoulders. No more regrets, no more sorrow.

"Do you remember that night?" She asked smiling and biting her lip as she looked into his eyes.

House answered by increasing the hold of his arms on her waist, pulling her closer to him, before closing his eyes. He kissed her deeply and slowly savoring each sensation of that kiss, actually so different from the one of that night.

She broke away from his lips and leaned her forehead on his, smiling and running her tongue on her lips as if to still savor that kiss, and then looked into his eyes.

"Do you want me to say _goodnight_?" He said smiling, looking into her eyes before looking again at her mouth.

Cuddy shook her head and looked at him wrapping even more her arms around his neck and finding his mouth in a long kiss.

...

* * *

Cuddy walked out of the bathroom tying the sash of her white silk robe, shivering slightly at the sensation of the fresh air that came through the open window on that night in mid-June. Her eyes searched House, but the room was empty. His medical journal was still open on his nightstand along with his glasses and next to his pills. She closed the window and the curtain staying for a moment to look at the tree-lined street lit only by the light of street lamps, turning then as she heard the door open.

"Grace" he said, looking at her "... but she's already sleeping again" he added as she nodded.

Cuddy looked at him. He wore only a pair of tight black boxer. The scar on his leg didn't go unnoticed, but it was definitely the last thing she saw when she looked at him. She loved the muscles of his chest and arms. And she loved his eyes. And that mouth. Even the roughness of his stubble.

"You're so sexy" she said smiling slightly and making him smile as he looked at her and moved closer, resting his hands on her shoulders and then sliding them down her arms and then her back. Cuddy looked up and he leaned over to kiss her lips.

"You're tired" he said rubbing her back "It was another long day..." he added kissing the tip of her nose and then again her lips "If you're not in the mood it's..."

His sentence was interrupted by a laughter.

"Are you kidding?" She laughed, shaking her head slightly.

It was true. She was tired. In the last month she had often slept in the hospital next to Mia's crib and even when she slept in her own bed her thought was always focused on her baby, so much that it was hard for her to sleep a full night. And having Mia at home would certainly have meant to sleep even less in the next weeks. She well knew what it meant to take care of a baby that couldn't discern between day and night yet. And yet... tiredness had been her last thought all afternoon... and certainly it was now, after having seen him walking through that door...

She stroked his back and arms putting his hands on the knot of the sash of her robe, silently inviting him to untie it. She looked at his fingers as they untied that knot, and then slowly opened her robe while his eyes lingered on her bare skin. She didn't wear anything under that layer of silk and that sight sent immediately a shudder in House's groin.

"I'm tired" she whispered taking his hand and placing it on her breast before letting it slide slowly downwards "...but... I've been thinking about this since you came into my office" she said, looking mischievously at him as at the same time she moved his hand between her own legs.

She saw his pupils dilate to that contact. Not only she wasn't tired. She wanted him. And by the reaction of her body... _very much_.

"Definitely you don't need any lube" he said smiling mischievously on her lips brushing her tongue, still caressing her between her legs.

"And you any Viagra" she replied in the same tone, looking away from his eyes just for a moment to look at his boxers. _God, now you're definitely and incredibly sexy!_ She thought slightly biting her lip. And House could clearly feel the reaction of her body at the mere sight of his erection.

"So _Dr. Cuddy_..." he said mischievously "... were you _like this_ today when I left your office?" He asked slightly biting on her lower lip.

Cuddy didn't answer but raised an eyebrow looking at him straight in the eyes.

"And... your _administrative_ mind was more focused on the thought of _sucking me_ than on that _Mrs. Doubtfire_ 's money?" He said, still caressing her between her legs with one hand as the other one cupped her butt. His voice was extremely low and sensual, his look was slightly amused. Actually he already knew the answer. He didn't need to ask.

Cuddy licked her lips and tilted her head slightly to one side.

"Literally, _House_... in my office... we were talking about _Taub_..." she said with a look of challenge that drove him crazy.

House suddenly lifted her on his shoulder ignoring her _'put me down, House!'_ while he carried her along the few steps toward the bed. His hands still grabbing her butt.

He practically launch her on the bed and then pulled her by the ankles on the edge of the bed, making her sit up as he stood between her knees. The look she gave him was far from mad. Pure desire.

Cuddy dug her fingers in the elastic band of his boxers letting them to slide to the ground and then cupped his buttocks with both hand to push him more toward herself. He ran a hand through her hair and cheek meeting her gaze as she began to lick him. Slowly. Her mouth moved along his length, then lingering to suck on the tip, wrapping her left hand around it. House closed his eyes, tilting his head back as her pace became faster. The feeling of being in her mouth awakened a primal instinct that she would have been willing to satisfy if he hadn't stopped her grasping her hair in his hand and then stroking her cheek.

He looked at her as she run her tongue on her lips meeting his gaze. He took her face with both hands, looking for her tongue and kissing her passionately while he made her lie down on her back on the bed. They kissed long, getting lost in the sensation of their tongues, savoring each other. House didn't leave her mouth as he penetrated her without warning with a single movement of his pelvis. The reaction of her body would have been enough to send him over the edge. She suddenly tilted her head back, leaving his mouth, and arched her back, holding her breath and then moaning, calling his name as he moved in and out of her. Cuddy looked again for his eyes and then for his mouth before he broke away from his lips to kiss her neck, moving then down on her breast. She closed her eyes to the sensation of his mouth on her nipple. She could feel the movements of his tongue on her, his mouth that sucked her skin while at the same time he moved deeply inside her, pushing her inexorably toward the edge of pleasure.

He wished she weren't so damn beautiful as she came. He wanted to let himself go, but at the same time he didn't want that to end. Cuddy found his mouth again as he rolled pulling her on top, still staying inside her. She kissed him long, straddling him and moving slowly before sitting up, straightening her back and resting her hands on his chest. House cupped her breasts with both hands as she moved on him using her arms just for balance. She looked at him as he closed his eyes at that change of angulation, moving her hands from his chest behind, on his knees, arching back and tilting back her head. A hoarse moan escaped from House's mouth as he watched her and grasp her hips more. From that angle he could see his shaft disappear inside her with every movement of her pelvis as she continued to move up and down on him. He shut his eyes closed again, unable to continue to look at her as he could clearly feel the tension growing in his testicles.

He sat up slightly putting an arm around her back as his mouth found her nipple and the change of angulation made them both wince again.

And he couldn't stand more at the sensation of having her in his own mouth and being between her legs at the same time, and he came with a hoarse moan.

"I love you" she whispered on his mouth as he looked into her eyes and stroked her cheek with his thumb.

He didn't answer, but took her face with both hands kissing her again slowly and deeply, before holding her in his arms. They stayed embraced until he felt her shiver slightly. He stroked her back and gave her a light smack on the buttocks to tell her of cover herself and she raised her head kissing him again on the lips, smiling before getting up. She picked up his boxers from the floor and threw them to him before picking up then even her robe.

"I'll be right back... I'm going to give a look to the girls" she said putting on her robe and tying the sash as he slipped under the sheets.

She returned after a few minutes, smiling as she watched him put Rachel's drawing in his medical journal, then closing it and putting his glasses on it.

 _The colorful prints of three little hands imprinted on the sheet._ A small one. A smaller one. And a even smaller one. And a _"HaPpY BiRtHdaY DaDdY"_ written with the characteristic writing of someone who cannot write yet.

"She made me promise to hang it in my office" he said with a puzzled and pleased expression at the same time meeting Cuddy's gaze.

Cuddy smiled and switched off the light, slipping under the sheets next to him.

"Are you afraid of losing your reputation?" She asked laughingly, resting her head on the pillow.

House shook his head, smiling as he lay down beside her putting an arm around her body as she rested her back against his chest.

"The truth, _House_ , is that drawing makes you feel very proud" she said smiling without looking at him "The love of a child does this" she added intertwining her fingers with his as he kissed her neck tenderly.

"Yeah" he said hugging her closer, smiling and kissing her hair "But it's a serious thing, Cuddy! I'm turning into Wilson!"

Cuddy laughed more clutching his arm more around the body.

"I'm serious!" He said, laughing "What did you do with the egocentric asshole diagnostician who worked in your hospital?"

" _That egocentric asshole diagnostician_ still works in my hospital" she said, laughing, turning slightly to look into his eyes in the dim light of the room "... but at home... he's just _Daddy_ " she whispered, kissing him lightly on the lips before turning back clutching in his embrace.

House smiled to himself stroking her hand with his thumb while her breathing became more slow and deep.

He thought back about that night of more than five years earlier. About that kiss. About that _goodnight Cuddy_. Things could have been very different if that night he'd had the courage to tell her something more than those two words. Or maybe not. He had no regrets. Not anymore. Not with his three little girls asleep in their beds. Not with her in his arms. He kissed her hair slightly before closing his eyes, whispering a... _goodnight Cuddy_...


	34. Virus

**Chapter 34 - Virus**

 **...**

* * *

Cuddy sat on the couch in that late evening on June. Alone. House had been kept in hospital by a case. She had had dinner, put the girls to bed and took a shower before putting a DVD into the player and curl up on the couch. A ponytail and one of House's T-shirts. Legs crossed as she watched that movie for the hundredth time, perhaps thousandth, biting her lip and wiping away a tear while the protagonist repeatedly called her beloved's name before letting him go, swallowed by the ocean.

House rolled his eyes as he walked into the living room, taking off his leather jacket and leaving it on the armchair along with his backpack.

"Why do you keep watching this movie?" He asked making her turn her head to look at him "The ending is still the same as the other 999 times, Cuddy!" He said teasing her while she slightly shook her head and went back to look at the screen.

"And then... that _door_ had room enough for both of them, if she'd moved her _big ass_ , Cuddy!" He said, laughing, bending to kiss her cheek before taking the spoon from the bowl of ice cream on her legs, putting a huge spoonful of frozen yoghurt in his mouth.

Cuddy gave him a half-glare taking back her spoon and putting in turn a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

"Ok" House said, shaking his head "tearjerker movie and ice cream... I think I'll be busy in the hospital with a patient for the next week!" He said, looking at her as she rolled her eyes.

"It's my hospital, House! Get a better place to hide from me!" She said, placing the bowl of frozen yoghurt on the coffee table and turning to him "... and... why the hell do you have to hide from me?!" She said looking into his eyes.

He laughed and shook his head before bending again over her.

"I love you..." he said, smiling "twenty-five days a month..." he pointed out laughing, quickly kissing her on the lips as she slapped his arm.

"I'm not that... unbearable!" she said looking into his eyes.

"My arm isn't of the same opinion!" He replied with a smile, rubbing his shoulder and making her laugh as she took his hand and drew him to herself.

"My poor little boy..." she said, stroking his arm as he sat down next to her and her hand moved from his arm to his neck and then to the back of his head as she looked for his lips.

"Aren't you watching the movie anymore?" He asked on her lips as he moved in turn his hand on her cheek and then in her hair.

Cuddy shook her head smiling and slightly biting her lip.

"I already know the ending" she said looking into his eyes and brushing his lips.

"Anyway that _old biddy_ would need a psychiatric evaluation!" House said laughing "That blue diamond was worth millions of dollars!" He added, looking at her as she closed her eyes and a laughter escaped from her lips before she reopened them, taking his face with both hands and whispering just a _'shut up!'_ before finding his tongue.

His hands found the hem of her shirt as she kissed him, and she found the hem of his, taking it off quickly from his head before going back to kiss him passionately on the mouth.

She loved his scent. Even after a full day of work she could smell on his skin the scent of his shower gel mixed with _his scent_ and the scent of his leather jacket and of his bike.

"I missed you tonight" she whispered on his mouth before kissing him again this time more slowly, savoring the feel of his tongue against hers.

"Take it with my boss" he answered, smiling, leaving her mouth and leaning his forehead against hers, untying her ponytail and sinking his hands more among her hair.

Cuddy smiled stroking his stubble with both hands and then his lips with her thumb, without taking her eyes from the blue of his.

"She knows how to make amends" she whispered gently pushing his back against the backrest of the couch as she stood up, then leaning to take his shoes off.

She unbuttoned his jeans and her gaze lingered on his boxers before she looked up at him, dropping them on the floor with his jeans and leaving him completely naked. His eyes moved away from hers as her hand wrapped his erection. He savored that feeling for a few seconds, closing his eyes before opening them again and put his hand on hers, loosening her grip and straightening his back, sitting up and tucking his thumbs in the elastic band of her panties.

"You're overdressed" he whispered, kissing her stomach and leaving on her skin a wet trail with his tongue as he went down to her navel and her belly.

He paused to kiss the skin that appeared as he lowered her panties, before letting them slide to the floor. He knew she was turned on. He didn't need to check. But he couldn't help it, letting out a _"God... Lisa!"_ as soon as he stroked her between her legs and pulled her on top of him.

He found her breasts while she put her hands on his shoulders and then bent over to kiss him, sucking his neck behind his ear as, at the same time, she made him slide inside her. House tilted his head back, resting his nape against the edge of the backrest as she continued to kiss his neck and began to move on him. He pulled her closer to him savoring the feeling of her breasts against his chest, and cupped her buttocks with his hands favoring the movements of her pelvis as he let herself go to the feeling of being inside her.

His senses focused only on her. And hers only on him. As if everything else had vanished... and there were only their bodies, lost in passion. Her eyes. Her scent. The taste of her kisses. The sound of her breathing and moans. Her skin beneath his fingers. The warmth of her body. He had never wanted a woman so much. And she had never wanted a man so much. She was responsible of his pleasure. And he of hers. To the extreme. And in that moment their senses got lost, giving way only to pleasure.

House held her as she came taking him over the edge with her. A hand on her back between her shoulder blades, the other one on the back of her neck and in her hair. Her hands cupping his face as she stifled her own moans into his mouth. And he continued to hold her, moving both hands on her back and stroking her while her breathing was still labored and she kept her head in the crook of his neck. He kept to stroke her back slowly, holding her, eyes closed and listening only to her breathing and to the feeling of her hands stroking his shoulders. He could feel himself now relaxed into her, but he didn't want to let her go. He kissed the side of her neck and felt her smile against his skin.

"Would you like something to eat?" She asked looking at him, brushing his lips still straddling him.

"I ate a sandwich in the hospital" he said biting lightly her lower lip "But I'd better take a shower..." he said smiling, giving her a smack on the butt and kissing her one last time before letting her go.

...

* * *

Cuddy was lying on the couch. Her head on the pillow and a book in her hands. She had turned off the TV, but even if she was dead tired and it was now almost midnight, she didn't feel sleepy. She watched him as he passed near her and went into the kitchen, coming back a few minutes later with a bowl in a hand. He moved her legs to make room for himself and sit down on the couch with her, taking then her feet on his lap.

"You never use glasses" he said looking at her as she read, with her glasses precisely.

"Almost never" she said, looking up from her book "I used them to study, remember?" She asked not expecting an answer "... now I rarely use them..."

"Are you tired?" He asked massaging her ankle.

Cuddy nodded, closing the book and taking off her glasses, rubbing her eyes.

"It would be strange otherwise" she said, smiling "... with three small daughters..." she added, before looking at him with a sly look "but I think you can't complain anyway" she said laughing.

"Definitely" he replied laughing taking a spoonful of ice cream from his bowl and bringing it to his mouth before putting a spoonful near her lips.

Cuddy looked at him quizzically.

"Chocolate, peanuts and wafer...?" She asked looking at the spoon at one inch from her own lips before House pushed it through her lips directly in her mouth, forcing her to swallow it.

Cuddy laughed, placing her hand over her mouth.

"Whoa" she said savoring the taste of the chocolate ice cream melting on her tongue and the crunchy of the little pieces of wafers and of the salted peanuts "It's... fabulous..." she added, smiling as House ate another spoonful of ice cream.

Cuddy looked at him as he dag again his spoon in the ice cream and took his wrist before he could bring that spoonful to his mouth, bringing it instead toward herself.

"I'm the one with the premenstrual syndrome" she said, laughing, swallowing that second spoonful of pure wonder.

"I'm the one who has to put up with you, Cuddy!" House replied laughing slapping her hand lightly as she tried again to reach his bowl before smiling and feed her with another spoonful.

...

* * *

"Cuddy?"

Cuddy stopped just one step away from the main door, slightly bowing her head. It was late. She just wanted to walk through that door and go home. She turned, seeing Wilson walking out of the elevator, and waited for him to approach.

"Sorry" he said with a slightly embarrassed smile "I need your signature on a procedure" he said handing her a patient's folder.

Cuddy carefully read the folder and took the pen from Wilson's hand, quickly scribbling her own signature and handing back the folder to Wilson.

"Thanks" he said, smiling at her "Sorry ... I was busy all the afternoon" he added checking that document and then closing the folder before looking at her again.

"You okay?" He asked "You look... tired"

Cuddy smiled slightly and nodded.

" I don't _look_ tired, James" she said, placing a hand on his arm "I _am_ tired..." she pointed out with the hint of another smile.

"Rachel had the umpteenth stomach flu a week ago" she said running a hand over her face "Just fever and vomit. Nothing serious. She's already better. But then Grace had the same virus from her sister. For now Mia is fine, probably because she doesn't play with her sisters yet... but since she had surgery only a month and a half ago and we can't afford her to get sick, her and I have been sleeping for a week in the living room... and Greg with Rachel and Grace in our bed" she said, rubbing her neck "so... yeah ... I'm _definitely very tired_ " she said.

Wilson looked at her and touched her arm.

"If you need anything, you know you can call me, right?" He said.

"Sure, thanks" she replied, touching his hand before smiling and greeting him, then finally walking through that door.

...

* * *

Cuddy woke up and looked around before recognizing her own living room and the couch where she have been sleeping for a week now. She was so used to getting up early that she didn't even need an alarm clock. She sat up before stand up, stretching slightly and then checking Mia who slept on her back in the crib beside the couch. She had both her little arms bent at the sides of her head, still fast asleep. Cuddy ran her fingers through her own hair and refused to look at herself in the mirror as she passed near it. After another night on the couch, her hair was definitely a mess. And her back too. House had insisted to relieve her but she hadn't even slightly took that proposal into consideration. If her back was now a mess she didn't even want to think about how his leg could have been! She opened the bedroom door quietly and watched him sleep. Grace curled up at his left and Rachel at his right. She wished she didn't have to wake him up! She fixed the pillow that House had put near Grace to prevent her from falling from the bed before leaning over him, kissing him lightly on the lips. House moved but didn't open his eyes.

"I'm going to make some coffee..." She whispered on his lips seeing him nod as he ran a hand over his face.

House joined her in the kitchen after about ten minutes. Coffee was ready and Cuddy was already sitting at the table with a cup in her hands.

"Are the girls okay?" She asked looking at him as he poured a cup of coffee for himself.

House nodded before bending over her, whispering a _"... 'morning"_ on her neck and resting his head in the crook of her neck. Cuddy smiled as she drank another sip of her coffee massaging his neck and stroking his hair. He savored her touch for a few seconds before kiss her neck again and go to sit down in front of her.

"Grace is better" he said, looking up from his cup after that coffee had given back some synapses among his neurons. "Mia?"

"I think she's fine. She slept all night." she replied "Marina will be here in half an hour. And I'm taking Mia to your mother's." She added, looking at him as he nodded taking another sip of his coffee.

"What about you?" He asked, looking into her eyes.

"Me... what?" She asks looking at him with a questioning look.

"Are you fine?" He asked.

"I think so" she answered finishing her coffee in a long sip and standing up, putting her cup in the sink before approaching him.

House slightly moved his chair and put his arm around her waist making her sit down on his good leg. Cuddy stroked his stubble before putting her arms around his neck and getting lost in his hug.

"Lack of cuddles?" He asked smiling, massaging her back with both hands, and feeling her nod against his shoulder.

"I want my bed back" She hummed on his shoulder.

He smiled at that words and especially at her tone of voice. Like a sulky child. And he kissed her hair.

...

* * *

"Dr. Cuddy?"

Trisha, her assistant, slightly opened the door of Cuddy's office waiting for her to gesture her to come in.

"Dr. Johnson just called. He's sick and he needs to reschedule his appointment of tomorrow. He'll call to take a new appointment as soon as he's better."

Cuddy looked at her with a slightly puzzled look.

"Dr. Johnson?"she repeated "I thought his appointment was on July 2..." she said reaching out to take the agenda on her desk.

Trisha looked at her with a even more quizzical look before talking again.

"Tomorrow... _is_ July 2" she said, almost afraid to contradict her boss as she watched her open her agenda to check.

She watched as she turned the pages, and then looked up at her running a hand over her forehead.

"Um... sorry..." she said, rubbing her neck with the hint of a smile "It's ok. Thank you" she added, looking at Trisha as she smiled back and walked out of her office.

Cuddy looked again at her agenda and at that _" July 2: Dr. Johnson. 10 a.m. "_ before browsing the pages backwards until that red circled number. _May 26._

She swallowed...

... And she browsed again the pages until July 1. Not that she didn't already know, but almost to have it confirmed.

No other date circled in red.

5 weeks.

37 days.

She closed her eyes for a moment swallowing again and breathing deeply. _30 plus 7_. Seven days late. Maybe nine. Not that she was always like a like clockwork ... but ... one week was too much ... Because of her sick children that had been her last thought in the last week. But the pill too!

A curse was the only thought that passed in her mind as she took the blister pack from her purse. Ten pill on... 21! It had to be empty. For at least seven days now. And she couldn't even remember the last time she had taken it. She threw the package in the trash before hiding her face in her hands.

 _Come on, Lisa. Be rational._ She thought.

 _You're 43 years old._

 _And a half._

 _Forty-three and a half,_ her mind pointed out.

 _"It's more probable for you to be in pre-menopause!"_ She thought, biting her lip. After all, menstrual irregularity is typical of pre-menopause. And her mother had thought she was in menopause even when she was pregnant with Grace. But ... Julia was four years older than her and she wasn't in menopause yet...

 _I have no symptoms..._ She thought, as her fingers nervously turned around her wedding ring on her ring finger _. I don't feel sick ... I don't feel dizzy ..._ she thought, looking at the cup of coffee on her desk, before she realized that even when she was pregnant with Jess she hadn't had those symptoms. The only symptom she had now was her aching breast... but that could be both a symptom of pregnancy as premenstrual. Actually not a menopausal one...

She looked again at her agenda. In the last month, first with Mia in hospital and then with a six-month-old baby at home she and House had had fewer occasions than usual to be _together_...

... fewer... not _"none"_ ...

She browsed the pages again. If she had got pregnant... _"IF"... conditional_... it would have been about three weeks ago. She swallowed, looking at that date and at the days immediately before that...

 _The dinner at the Artemisia's. And... House's birthday._

Two options. Pregnancy and pre-menopause. Both probable and improbable at the same time. A 50:50.

 _Stop it!_ She thought. She reached out to get the cup of coffee on her desk. It was the third coffee of that morning. She took a sip, giving a start as soon as the door opened without warning awakening her from her thoughts.

 _House._

She put the cup on the desk and instinctively closed the agenda in front of her. House looked at her quizzically.

"Are you ok?" He asked looking into her eyes before putting a document in front of her.

"Yes... Why?" She replied, looking down and putting her agenda over the pile of papers on her desk. She signed the document before looking up at him again with the hint of a smile, handing him the signed paper sheet.

"Nothing" he said, looking into her eyes and shaking her head slightly "An appointment with your lover?" He asked, looking at her closed agenda.

"Sure" she replied, smiling at him and holding his gaze.

House nodded leaning over to kiss her lightly on the lips before walking out of her office. She watched him as he closed the door and walked away before inhaling deeply and suddenly standing up putting a hand over her mouth.

 _Damn it, Lisa! Don't let yourself be influenced!_ She thought collapsing beside the toilet bowl and resting her back against the wall... She well knew what kind of jokes her own mind could play. She had had a very clear evidence on that during the flight back from Singapore...

She looked at herself in the mirror as she leaned with both hands on the sink. She had to have that answer... but... _she wasn't sure she really wanted it..._

 _..._


	35. Virus - Part 2

**Chapter 35 - Virus - Part 2**

 **...**

* * *

She had to have that answer... but... _she wasn't sure she really wanted it..._

 _..._

* * *

 _"Hey"_

Cuddy entered the living room holding Mia in her arms, smiling slightly and putting on the ground the shopping bag in her other hand. Grace ran toward her clinging to her leg and she ruffled her hair, then leaning over to kiss Rachel, too focused on the cartoon she was watching to get up from the couch. She kissed House on the cheek then putting Mia in his arms.

"I'm going to change" she said, stroking his neck and looking at the images on the screen before adding "This movie again?"

 _Hotel Transylvania._ Rachel's new favorite cartoon movie at least for a week.

"She reminds me of someone!" House said laughing and ruffling Rachel's hair, sitting on the couch next to her, glancing at Cuddy "But she watched it only a dozen times!" He added, shaking his head "Very far from your record!"

Cuddy smiled and looked at the screen again.

 _Count Dracula with baby Mavis, his daughter, as he changed her diaper... kissed her tummy... told her bedtime stories... playing guitar for her..._ For everyone the terrible Count Dracula... for his daughter a sweet Daddy...

"Even that Dracula reminds me of someone" she said, smiling, stroking his stubble and kissing him on the lips, looking into his eyes, before leaving the room to go change in something more comfortable.

...

* * *

House looked at Cuddy as she tried to convince Grace to eat something. She had practically eaten just a few spoonfuls of her soup and then she had closed her mouth turning her head away.

"She won't die from hunger, Lisa" he said, looking at his daughter as she reached for her pink plastic cup with spout and brought it to her mouth "She'll eat when she's fine"

Cuddy nodded. Actually after her stomach flu the most important thing was to keep her hydrated, she thought looking at her as she drink from her pink cup, then looking at her own plate. She had eaten reluctantly too. Not that she was ill. But her stomach was closed. And she didn't need a psychologist to figure out why.

 _Does she have to talk to him?_ Honestly she didn't know if actually there was something to say... Probably everything would have burst into a bubble...

That question had spun in her mind all night... She looked at herself in the mirror as she undressed to take a shower. House was with Rachel and Grace. After a week spent with him in _mom-and-dad big bed_ it hadn't been easy to convince them that they should go back to sleep in their own bed. In the end they had bargained over it and they had achieved a double bedtime story. Rachel was certainly already asleep, collapsed after at most four lines. Grace _not_. Not even two years old... and yet she never let him to skip any part of the bedtime story. It wasn't easy to dupe her. Certainly something she took after his father.

She looked at the little box in her hand, turning it in her fingers. She could have just run a blood test in the hospital, but she hadn't wanted to draw attention to herself and had opted for a simple pregnancy test from the supermarket. She continued to look at it. She certainly didn't need to read the instructions. She had made at least a dozen of those in the past, waiting for a completely different outcome from the one she wanted right now, an outcome that had never come. She had never had the pleasure to see that second line to appear, and certainly she didn't want to have it now.

Really? Was it really _that_ the answer she wanted?

She didn't want a pregnancy. Of that she was sure. The last thing she needed now was destabilization. Three daughters. One just six months old. Certainly now she didn't have the desire of having another child.

She opened the box and pull out that white and pink piece of plastic. She would have had to wait until the next morning as recommended on the box. But she knew she wouldn't be able to wait. She needed that answer. And she was going to talk to House only if there was something to talk about...

She put the box in the bathroom cabinet and close it while she took a shower, delaying of a few minutes that thought and trying to relax under the hot water. She let the water flowed on her face and body, relaxing her muscles, tensed after that week of sleeping on the couch, but she couldn't completely dispel the thought that lingered in her mind.

She put on her bathrobe watching that pregnancy test again. Five minutes... five minutes and she would have had her answer. But as always, five endless minutes... _Time won't pass faster just because you keep to watch it!_ ... She thought placing the test on the shelf of the cabinet and began to brush her hair in an attempt to distract herself.

"Lisa..."

Cuddy turned back as soon as she heard the bathroom door open and looked at House, instinctively closing the door of the cabinet.

"Have you seen my watch?" He asked.

Of course she had seen his watch. She was practically counting every seconds of that watch. She handed it to him with the hint of a smile and watched him as he put it on his wrist before approaching her.

"You're beautiful..." he said resting his hands on her hips, caressing the soft fabric of her bathrobe and brushing her lips.

Cuddy let out a little laugh, shaking her head slightly.

"No... I'm not..." she said, looking in the mirror at the dark shadows under her eyes before meeting his eyes with the hint of a smile.

"You are..." he said again, brushing her lips and moving his hand on her face looking this time for her tongue.

Cuddy let herself go to that kiss, lost in the feeling of being in his arms and moving in turn a hand on his face as she kissed him back. She felt his hand moving down along her neck and then under her bathrobe, baring one of her shoulder as he kissed her behind her ear, stroking her skin with his thumb.

"Greg ..."

He felt her hesitation and raised his head to look into her eyes, finding in her eyes the same hesitation he had heard in her voice.

"I... I... I forgot to take my pill" she said not looking away but failing to avoid unknowingly to bite her lip "... more than one" she added looking at him before looking down, shaking her head slightly.

House looked at her not moving his hand from her hip until she took a step back and run a hand on her forehead resting with her butt against the sink, still looking down.

"I really don't know what was in my mind..." she said, running her hand over her face before looking up at him.

He continued to look at her without saying anything.

"Um... let's see..." he said putting his hand over his mouth in a mock thoughtful way but letting out a smile "The social worker. The adoption. Mia's surgery. Two sick children" He said taking a step forward towards her resetting again the distance between them and touching her arm with his hand, stroking her with his thumb "I'm not surprised that it wasn't among your priorities" he added with the hint of a smile that she didn't return, looking into his eyes and then looking down again.

"I... I'm a week late" she said, looking up at him, and then looking down again, shaking her head. She didn't give him time to reply, moving away from him and taking the test from the cabinet, placing it on the edge of the sink.

They both looked at it then looking at each other. Too early to know the result yet.

Cuddy sighed, looking into his eyes.

"What if... if it's positive?" She said, looking at the test and then again at House.

"Well, we'll have to give a salary increase to Marina!" He said, letting out a laugh "A big one!" He added, shaking his head slightly as he smiled.

Cuddy glared at him.

"You're not funny, _House_!" She said, looking at him with an exasperated look, putting her hand again on her forehead and covering her eyes, as if she were about to cry.

For the first time in her life she didn't want to see that second line appear...

"I... I don't want another pregnancy" she said without looking at him.

"Another pregnancy. Or another baby, Lisa?" He said still watching her as she slightly shook her head and a small bitter laugh escaped from her lips.

They should have been synonymous. But they weren't. Not for her. And he knew it. He knew her better than anyone else, and sometimes better than how she knew herself. That _"I don't want another pregnancy"_ wasn't synonymous with _"I don't want another baby."_ Because the truth was that it wasn't true that she didn't want another baby. Of course, the timing would have been absolutely awful... but _'what she did NOT want'_ was NOT _"another baby"_... That double negation made that a twisted thinking even to herself... She did NOT want another pregnancy because the truth was that actually... she did not want _to lose_ another baby...

House's voice woke her up from that thought.

"It's negative" he said looking at that piece of plastic and then at her. His tone was calm. A pure finding of fact.

Cuddy hesitated and looked up at him.

"Um... are you... are you sure?" She said, looking at him as if she wasn't sure she had heard right.

House just handed her the test.

"A single line. It's negative." "He said, looking at her as she nodded, turning that piece of plastic in her hands. She looked at it again and threw it in the trash.

 _A single line. Negative._ She wasn't pregnant. She met House's eyes for a second before looking down again. What she felt inside herself was not what she thought to feel. She wanted it to be negative. And it was negative. _So why the hell she felt like she was going to cry?_ It was what she wanted. She didn't want to be pregnant. She kept telling that to herself like a mantra. But what she felt inside her was the exact opposite of a feeling of relief.

House drew her to himself wrapping her back with both arms as she hid her face against his chest, in turn putting her arms around his waist. He let him to stroke her back, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"You should test your FSH level" he said continuing to caress her as she nod against his chest.

"Let's go to bed now... you need to sleep..." he whispered, kissing her hair.

...

* * *

They haven't seen each other for almost three days. He was busy with a case that was literally giving him a hard time... she had had the umpteenth problem in the hospital and was overwhelmed by paperwork. They just had breakfast together and then they didn't see each other all day. And on evening Cuddy was so tired that she fell asleep before he came back home.

House recognized the clicking of her heels on the floor as she approached his office, but he didn't move, still looking at his computer screen with his arms crossed on the chest and his feet propped up on his desk.

"God! Are you kidding?" She exclaimed in her administrative tone, widening her eyes as soon as she stopped on the doorframe. She didn't need to see what he was watching... the moans and sighs that came to her ears were clear enough.

She glanced at his team sitting at the table of the differential room, at the other side of the closed glass door, and then looked again at her husband, covering her eyes with both hands as she looked at those images. She looked at her with a mischievous look.

"What is it, Cuddy?" He laughed "It's certainly _not_ your first time!" He said, laughing, looking at her as she glared at him.

"A ... _porn_ , House?!" She hissed approaching him and ignoring his comment, looking at the screen again before looking at him straight in the eyes "Are you crazy?"

She wanted to yell. If the topic wasn't that her husband was watching a porn during working hours, in _her_ hospital, she would have yelled. She approached him and moved his legs off the desk with such a rush that he almost fell off the chair.

"Lisa, is not what..." he said, letting out a laugh and shaking his head slightly.

"What? Isn't it a porn, House?" She asked in a dry and, at the same time, sarcastic tone, not letting him finish the sentence "I'm not an expert at this genre, but I guess I can recognize it!" She added in the same tone.

"Of course it is!" He replied "But it's not just a porn" he added, reaching out to touch her.

He rolled his eyes at her when she stepped back to avoid his hand from touching her hip.

"Look at that guy" he said looking into her eyes with a mischievous and, at the same time, amused look and nodding toward the screen.

"No way!" She replied holding his gaze.

"Look at him" he repeated with the same look, staring at her, and she couldn't help but sigh, turning her head toward the screen, going beyond the discomfort of watching those images. Not for those images in themselves of course, but for the fact of looking at them in _her_ hospital.

It took her a while to understand what House wanted her to see. After all in that kind of movie it wasn't easy to focus on the _actors' faces_... And certainly that guy's _face_ was the last thing on which the director had focused!

"God... it's..." she turned to House with a questioning look "is it... your patient?" She asked looking back at the screen and then again at House "I thought he was... a lawyer" she said, not hiding her surprise and at the same time her embarrassment.

"It's what his wife thought too" House replied, laughing, stopping the movie and looking into her eyes.

"So... has he been lying to her for what... six years?" She asked, shaking her head slightly.

"Well not really..." House replied laughing "in both cases, he _fucks people_ to work!" He said, laughing again, and again reaching for her that this time she didn't step back.

Cuddy laughed in turn, moving closer to him and letting his thumb caress her hip.

"Ok" she said, shaking her head slightly and stroking his stubble "Do what you... have to do..." she said, closing her eyes briefly and smiling "But without sound, please!" She added, bending over to kiss him lightly on the lips before exiting his office.

She had come back in her office by less than half an hour when she heard the door open. She hadn't heard a knock on the door, so she didn't bother to look out of the bathroom door as she wiped her hands and quickly fixed her hair looking at herself in the mirror. She bumped into House as she exited the bathroom, but she didn't have time to walk out. His hand drew her to him and his mouth immediately found hers as he pushed her against the wall.

"Greg ... no..." she said as he lifted her skirt with one hand, touching her breast with the other through the neckline of her blouse "I have a meeting in fifteen mi..."

That word got lost in her throat, replaced by a deep sigh and a moan as he moved her panties by side and slipped a finger inside her.

"You'll be in time" he said on her mouth again looking for her tongue.

She was turned on. More than he thought. And he looked into her eyes with a mischievous look.

"Admit it" he said looking into her eyes and biting her lip "You weren't so disgusted by that movie" he said as her pupils dilated.

He looked at her as she smiled and ran her tongue over her lips, looking at his mouth. And she shook her head slightly. It was true. It wasn't what she could call her genre, but... it had awakened one thought in her mind... They haven't had sex for ten days ... and she wanted him. House looked at her only for a moment before kissing her passionately on the mouth, pushing her against the sink. He lowered his pants as she bend over, leaning with her arms against the sink, glancing at the bathroom door. It was closed, but... so was the one of her office? She didn't have time to ask that question because every thought faded, replaced only by pleasure, as soon as she felt him inside her. She closed her eyes to that feeling and put her hands over her face to stifle her own moans.

"Oh God, Greg ..." she whispered moaning as he thrust into her, rubbing her at the same time with his fingers. And her rational side succumbed completely to the irrational one as he quickly sent her to the edge of pleasure.

A disapproving moan escaped from her lips as soon as she felt him suddenly to pull his hand back and pull out of her, resting his head on her back as he came in his own hand.

Cuddy stood still as her most intimate part continued to throb, listening to House's heavy breathing against her back, before he kissed her between her shoulder blades, caressing her with his left hand.

She bit her lip as she straightened her back, fixing her skirt and watching him as he washed his hands.

"I'm so sorry..." She said, meeting his gaze through the mirror.

House smiled, wiping his hands and then putting them on her hips again, drawing her to himself and kissing her tenderly on the lips.

"It's ok" he said still touching her lips before looking at her with a mischievous look "I wouldn't like to find some condoms in my wife's desk drawer, Cuddy!" He said, biting her lip.

She laughed, shaking her head slightly.

"I'll make amends, I promise" she said, stroking his neck and kissing him lightly on the lips.

She looked at him as he smiled before moving away from him and looking at herself in the mirror, rolling her eyes.

"God, I'm a mess" she said fixing her hair again and then putting her hands on her cheeks "... I look like someone who just had an orgasm" she added, looking at her flushed cheeks and at the slight redness on her neck and cleavage.

"Maybe because... YOU JUST HAD an orgasm" he said, laughing, resting his back against the wall of the bathroom.

Cuddy glared at him as she began to fix her make-up.

"You look beautiful" he added, looking at her reflection in the mirror while she couldn't help but smile at him.

...

* * *

House opened the door of the Clinic room 1 and looked at Cuddy as she closed the patient's folder and handed her a prescription. He looked at that woman as she fixed her shirt. She was probably more or less fifty years old, but her unkempt clothing made her look much older. He just nodded at her as she passed near him, walking out of the room..

"Your patient?" Cuddy asked with the hint of a smile as he closed the door.

"He'll be fine" he said handing her his patient's folder.

He looked at her as she read it and nodded.

"I asked him a signed copy of his entire _filmography_ " he said, looking at her and raising an eyebrow "... for my wife" he added as she rolled her eyes.

Cuddy handed him back the folder, then taking her own patient's folder that was on the examination bed. House took it quickly from her hand and she looked at him with a questioning look.

"She just has a urinary infection..." she said, looking at him as he browsed the folder.

"Forty-eight years old?" He asked, looking at her and raising his eyebrows.

Cuddy looked at him without answering.

"She looks at least fifteen years older than you" he said, shaking his head slightly.

Cuddy smiled and nodded slightly.

"Because I look ten years younger than my age, House" she said, smiling and looking into his eyes "well... maybe five" she added, laughing.

House looked at her, smiling, and closed the folder, placing it on the bed and going toward the cart at the other side of the room.

"Lift your sleeve and sit down" he said, filling a kidney dish with the need for taking a blood sample.

Cuddy snorted, but sat down on the bed, lifting her sleeve, without taking off her white coat, and looking at the test tube as her own blood filled it. It had been already four days since that pregnancy test and she hadn't yet do that blood test. Not that she didn't want to do it, she had just been very busy and she had forgotten it. She already knew what she wanted to know and she wasn't actually so enthusiastic of knowing that her _ovarian reserve_ was definitively ended. But she smiled to herself at House's hurry... thinking back to what had happened in her office bathroom just a few hours earlier. Certainly if her FSH level was high, sign of impending menopause, she would no longer need to force him to a such a unsatisfactory _ending_.

She smiled as she bent her arm and House put the test tube in the kidney dish putting on it a label with the name of Cuddy's patient, not hers.

"Do you want a kiss on your _boo-boo_ and a lollipop" he asked in the same tone he would have used with Rachel, putting a band-aid on her arm.

Cuddy laughed and shook her head slightly as she stood up and fixed her sleeve. She put her hand on the knob and slightly opened the door, hesitating a moment and then closing it again.

"... what if I really wants that _lollipop,_ Dr. House?" She asked in an innocent tone of voice, turning to look at him and running her tongue over her lips.

House watched as she turned the key in the lock, while the picture that appeared in his mind sent him a shudder in his groin. She walked toward him and put a hand on his shoulder making him sit down on the stool that was next to the bed. She bent down to kiss him on the mouth and then moved her mouth on his neck while her hand unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his jeans, slipping then into his boxers. She felt in her hand the immediate effect of the words she whispered in his ear, and that feeling completely erase her inhibition, making her completely uninhibited. Her hand moved slowly on his length, but to hear her voice whispering in his ear what she was going to do to him, item by item, would have been almost enough to make him come. He looked into her eyes as she knelt and bent over him, taking him into her mouth. Fully clothed, in her white coat... that had been one of his sexual fantasies for many years before reality exceeds his imagination. He let himself get lost completely in the sensations she gave him and gripped her hair in his hands, warning her that if she wanted to change her mind that was her last opportunity. Cuddy looked up meeting his gaze, but didn't stop. That _'I want every drop of you'_ she had whispered in his ear just a few minute earlier rang in his mind, sending him over the edge.

Cuddy waited until his breathing became more regular and then removed her hand, standing up and looking into his eyes.

"Thank you... for _the blood test_ " she pointed out, smiling on his lips as he looked for her tongue.

"You're always welcome" he replied kissing her again.

...

* * *

House leaned on the nurses' desk taking a handful of lollipops from the basket and putting them in his pocket, before taking one of the folders. A morning in the Clinic was one of the things he hated most. But he didn't have a new case... and Cuddy was so tired in recent days that if she found him in the nurses' room, watching a soap opera, she would have make him find _his balls_ for dinner! She and Wilson were both busy in a Board meeting and actually there was no way for her to notice his absence in Clinic, but it was definitely better not to put her on test!

Nurse Brenda glanced at him as she talked on the phone, but motioned for him to wait. House looked at her with a bored look. He could wait there all afternoon if it was for him. Those sneezing noses aren't certainly going to die in the meantime. He looked at the nurse as she took some envelopes from under her desk as soon as she hung up.

"The result of the tests you ordered yesterday, Dr. House" she said taking the few envelopes with his name written on top of them, and instead putting aside the one ordered by other doctors.

The nurse glared at him as he took also Cuddy's ones.

"I can't give you Dr. Cuddy's ordered tests" she said, trying to have back those envelopes "She's going to be mad at me and..."

House stared at her.

"And do you think she'll be mad at you because she has less work to do?" He asked, looking at her as stating the most obvious thing in the world "Trust me! She'll thank you" he said "Well... not as much as she's going to thank _me_!" he added with a wink, seeing her blush, before opening the clinic door with a satisfied look on his face. Certainly he would have never admitted that he was only making a favor to his wife.

He checked that long list of tests before finding between them also the result of Cuddy's blood sample of a couple of days earlier. He looked at that single value and smiled, closing his eyes for a moment before standing up, exiting the room. He put the patient folder on the desk as he walked out of the clinic followed by Nurse Brenda's exasperated look.


	36. Virus - Part 3

_Hello to everyone! I have to apologize because sometimes I forget to explain some medical aspects and one of you made me realize I haven't actually explain what FSH is._

 _So here I am. Little lesson of endocrinology ;)_

 _FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) is an hormon produced by the pituitary gland. FSH level is normal/low (3-20 mU/ml) during a normal menstrual period (very low after ovulation and during pregnancy) but is high/very high (40-120 mU/ml) when ovaries don't work anymore, like in menopause._

 _And furthermore... during menopause estrogens level are very low. So here is House's joke about soy and estrogens. Soy contains phito-estrogens so it's often used by menopausal women to reduce menopausal symptoms ;)_

 _Fine! End of the medical lesson! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! And if you want to leave a review on your way out... well by now you know how much I love them! ;)_

* * *

...

 **Chapter 36- Virus - Part 3**

 **...**

* * *

 _He checked that long list of tests before finding between them also the result of Cuddy's blood sample of a couple of days earlier. He looked at that single value and smiled, closing his eyes for a moment before standing up, exiting the room. He put the patient folder on the desk as he walked out of the clinic followed by Nurse Brenda's exasperated look_.

...

* * *

 _That same morning. 7 a.m._

 _..._

* * *

 _Cuddy looked at House as he opened the fridge door and glared at him as he drank straight from the milk carton. She looked at him as he took a long sip and then spit it out in the kitchen sink glaring at her in turn. She rolled her eyes at him and laughed._

 _"What the hell is it?" He said with a disgusted look, looking at the label on the milk carton still in his hand._

"Soymilk" She said holding back a laugh as she watched Mia, who was drinking her milk in her bottle sitting on her legs, before returning to look at House again.

House shook his head, opening the fridge again and looking for the milk carton, this time checking the label before pouring it on his cereals, then sitting down at the table in front of her, between Rachel and Grace, looking at her with a slightly evil look, smiling and running his tongue on his lips.

"Shut up!" She said, staring at him with an annoyed look that melted into a smile, while she could tell that joke in his eyes.

"I didn't say anything, Cuddy!" He laughed, realizing in turn what joke she was expecting from him "Anyway... how can you drink that stuff?" He added.

Cuddy stared at him and shook her head slightly failing not to smile.

"It's good, Dad!" Rachel said drawing on herself the attention of both of them "No cholesterol and no lactose" she added, while House turned his head and looked at her raising both eyebrows "But it's better with chocolate" she said finishing her cup of chocolate milk and smiling.

House couldn't help but ruffle her hair and smile.

"Yeah!" He laughed looking at her little face, dirty with chocolate, and wiping her with a towel, before looking at Cuddy again.

"You're raising a monster, Cuddy, you know that, don't you?" He told her letting out a laugh and shaking his head slightly.

"Me?" she replied, smiling "She wouldn't know by memory every commercial if you let her watch less TV" she said taking another sip from her cup while he smiled and brought a spoonful of his cereal to his mouth.

House continued to look at her as she finished the liquid into her cup and then stood up, leaving on the table a slice of toast to which she had given barely two bites. She put Mia in her highchair and gave her a kiss on her little nose and one on her lips, before putting her empty cup in the kitchen sink, throwing in the trash the tea bag. She passed near him on her way out and bent over to kiss him on the cheek. He put his arm around her pulling her back closer to him and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Don't forget our appointment with Molly at 5.30 this afternoon" he said on her mouth, making her smile.

"Me?" she laughed, looking into his eyes.

"At your age it is normal to misfire, Cuddy" he said teasing her but at the same time cupping her butt, squeezing it.

"If I was you I'll be more worried about the atherosclerosis in _your_ arteries, House!" She said, looking at him with a mischievous look.

 _Holy shit!_ _How could that woman turn him on just with a look! And, what is more, talking about atherosclerosis!_ House shook his head, unable to avoid laughing.

"Are you interested in a _specific artery_ , Cuddy?" He asked with the same look she had gave him.

"The one with which you're used to _think_!" She replied looking at him and patting him on the shoulder, before walking out of the kitchen to get dressed.

...

* * *

Cuddy looked at the time on her watch before looking at herself in the mirror, rubbing her neck. If she hadn't been too tired even for crying she would have cried. She looked at herself in the mirror and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. Almost 10 am. She had a Board meeting in five minutes. She moistened her neck and forehead with a wet towel before placing it on the sink and walking out of the bathroom.

Wilson smiled as she sat beside him resting her agenda on the table and browsing the folder that Dr. Wells had put in front of each of them. Graphics. Numbers. Percentages. Wells' voice quickly became a background noise while her mind was focused only on her own breathing.

A half-and-a-hour meeting and she had perhaps heard a quarter of it. Wilson looked at her and moved closer to her ear whispering an _"Are you okay?"_ to which she replied with a nod. An _unconvincing_ nod.

And he was sure of that when she left the meeting just a second after everyone stood up, exiting the room quickly. Wilson freed himself in turn from Dr. Olsen, advancing an emergency in his department to justify himself.

He walked into her office without knocking. Cuddy sat on the bathroom floor. Her head against the wall and her eyes closed.

"I'm fine, James" she said, opening her eyes and meeting his worried look.

He watched as she stood up, closing her eyes for a moment, and then approached the sink, putting some fresh water on her face and then rubbing the towel on her face and neck.

"I'm fine" she said again meeting his eyes.

"You definitely aren't _fine_ , Cuddy" he replied "You're pale" he added, looking at her "You should go home. Take a few days off if you need"

Cuddy shook her head, letting out an almost imperceptible bitter laugh.

"A few days..." she whispered as she passed near him "... or _months_ ..." she added so imperceptibly that Wilson could barely hear her.

"What?" He asked having failed to hear her words.

Cuddy smiled slightly and sat down on the couch, leaning her back against the backrest and closing her eyes for a moment.

"Nothing" she replied, shaking her head slightly and staring at him "It's nothing" she repeated "It's... it's not the first time I feel like this..."

Wilson nodded.

"You should stay away from Mia" he said looking into her eyes "An infection isn't good for her not even a month after her discharge"

"I know..." she said looking down at her own hands "... but... it's not contagious..."

"How do you know it?" Wilson instinctively asked with a bit of doubt in his voice.

"Because this _virus_ is... not a virus" She replied still looking at him.

She saw the realization in his eyes.

"Oh my God! Are you... are you pregnant?" He replied, practically yelling that words.

"Shit, James!" She exclaimed, standing up and looking for a moment at the door before returning to stare at him "May you not shout it out to all the hospital, please?!" She said putting a hand on her forehead and walking to her desk, facing away from him, before turning again toward him, leaning with her the butt against the edge of the desk before looking at him.

Wilson looked at her as if a million questions spun in his head and none of them could find the way toward his lips. She expected that reaction. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know if he have to be happy for them or not. A few months earlier he would have just said _'mazel tov'_ without thinking twice. But now? Few situations left him speechless. Yet now he was speechless. He would have liked to tell her that there was nothing to worry about... that everything would be fine... But...no, saying nothing would probably be better ... But keeping his mouth shut wasn't one of his qualities.

"Are... are you sure?" He asked, calling immediately himself _an idiot_ as soon as that question came out of his mouth.

Cuddy didn't answer, but the exasperated look that she gave him was definitely a sufficient answer.

"Does House know?" He asked, failing again to keep his mouth shut.

He watched her as she bit her lip and shook her head slightly.

"Not yet" she answered, looking up at him "He knows about my delay... but I had a pregnancy test a week ago and it was negative... I thought of being premenopausal"

She hesitated a moment as if she was trying to process her own words..

"If you thought of being premenopausal why did you take another test?" he asked failing to follow her thought.

"I can't explain it..." she replied, shaking her head "In the past couple of days I didn't feel well... but ... it's not just sickness ... I don't know... I feel strange... " she said, looking down and then again up at him " ... I ran a test here in my office... a few hours ago... and... "

Wilson watched as she bit her lip and sighed, fighting back tears and swallowing.

"And it was positive" he said finishing the sentence for her.

"Twice" she added, looking up at him and wiping with her hand a tear before it rolled down her cheek.

Wilson continued to look at her without saying nothing before the phone on her desk rang distracting both of them from that conversation. Cuddy hesitated before taking the receiver and looked at Wilson.

"Please... don't tell anything to Greg" she said picking up the receiver and looking at Wilson who just nodded and smiled a embarrassed smile before walking out of her office.

...

* * *

House watched as she looked up from her computer as soon as he walked in her office, and glanced at her desk.

"Your lunch?" He asked, pointing with his cane to the half package of crackers on her desk.

"No" she said with the hint of a smile, but not adding more to that answer as he took a sip from the can in his hand, then stretching his arm toward her to offer her some of his Ginger Ale.

"Do you want some?" He asked as she switched her computer off and stood up settling the documents on her desk.

"No, thanks" She replied shaking her head slightly and taking her leather bag while House finished the can in a long sip then throwing it in the trash.

The house was really more than they expected. Built recently. The owners had lived there just a couple of years before moving to Europe for business two months ago. A couple of architects with two children. A nice neighborhood. Just a couple of minutes farer from the hospital than their actual house. And a big garden.

"If we buy this house you'll have no more excuses to say _no_ to Rachel about the dog" House said, watching Cuddy and laughing.

"Don't make me think about that" she replied looking at him and then at the garden before the former Mrs. Wilson demanded their attention again.

Molly was nice, and the facade of that house was really great, but under the July sun that incessant description of construction details was decidedly out of place. There were at least 104°F . In the shade. House looked at Cuddy as she ran a hand over her forehead and put his hand on her back, caressing her lightly with his thumb.

"Are you ok?" He asked looking at her.

She smile slightly, looking at Molly as she kept to talk practically just to herself a few steps ahead.

"Why are you so nice with me?" She asked looking at him with a questioning look.

"I'm always nice with you, Cuddy!" He answered glancing in turn to Molly, now at several steps ahead, before touching her lips in a little kiss.

"No, you're not" she said, smiling "Did you have lunch with Wilson today?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, he was with Teddy" He replied "You were having lunch _with a less-than-half-your-age-old guy_... and I had to pay for my lunch and eat it alone!" He said, looking at her with a puppy look.

"Oh my poor baby boy!" She replied, taking his face with both hand and kissing him lightly on the lips "However... the guy I was having lunch with was almost _twice-my-age old_ , House" she said looking into his eyes with a questioning look.

House smiled, moving on her butt the hand that was on the small of her back "I just wanted to test you" he said, laughing, looking at her as she rolled her eyes and smiled, taking his hand.

"Come on" she said intertwining her fingers with his "Another five minutes out here and I can't assure you of being able to stand" she added as they followed Molly.

The interior was thankfully much cooler. And even inside the house was up to the expectations of those who saw it from the outside. A large kitchen, a living room and a lounge with a beautiful fireplace, and many more rooms of what they needed.

They stopped at the door of one of the bedrooms that had probably been the children's one.

"They had two sons ..." Molly said looking at them and pointing to the blue walls of the room before being distracted by the ring of her phone.

She excused herself and left them alone for a moment whispering just a _"please, give a look around"_ as she took the call.

House looked at Cuddy as she looked at those blue walls.

"It's not a problem" he said " _Wilson_ can repaint the walls!" He said, approaching her and looking into her eyes.

"Or maybe not..." he added, resting his hand on her hip and drawing her closer to him " Maybe _Uncle Wilson_ will be lucky..." he said looking into her eyes "... and it's a boy..." he said s moving his hand lightly and just touching her belly with his thumb.

Cuddy slightly widened her eyes, looking down at his hand and then up at his eyes again.

"If I don't kill Wilson first!" She said, biting her lip.

"It's not his fault this time!" House replied, shaking his head slightly and looking at her as she looked down.

"Why haven't you told me?" He asked. His tone was gentle, perhaps slightly apprehensive, not mad.

"I did a test this morning ..." she said looking up and stroking his forearm with her thumb as he continued to keep his hand on her belly "... I planned to tell you tonight, at home..." she added "... how did you know?"

House smiled.

"The ginger tea you have been drinking for a couple of days. You drink that when you're sick." He said "... but you wouldn't be close to Mia if you thought it was a virus then ... it couldn't be a virus... and..." he added, taking a couple of folded sheets from his jeans pocket and handing them to her "It's the result of your blood test... your FSH is too low, you definitely couldn't be in menopause... So... I ran another test on your blood sample" he said looking at her as she watched the result on the second sheet.

 _Beta-hCG._

"I would say that there are no doubts" he said drawing her to him again as he watched her bite her lip.

"How could that have happened?" She whispered avoiding his gaze, realizing the stupidity of that question as soon as she asked it.

"Well... your mother would have to teach you, Cuddy!" He said teasing her "... um... let's see... my sperm in your vagina and..."he smiled seeing her bite her lip "... well, Cuddy, actually all I know is that is because of... _sperm_ in your vagina ... I can't actually be sure at one hundred percent that it was mine... and ... "

"HOUSE!" She exclaimed rolling her eyes at him and putting a hand over his mouth, but failing to suppress a small smile. She knew he was trying to play down and stroked his stubble with both hands, as he touched her lips with his.

"So Cuddy... I was right ... today you were having lunch _with a less-than-your-age-old guy_ " he said, making her smile again and resting his forehead on hers. He could feel her discomfort... and her fear...

He kissed her lips lightly before lightly finding her tongue.

"But if it's a girl, Cuddy, I swear we're going to take a dog ... _a male one_!" He said, smiling and making her smile while she stroked his stubble "And... we'll definitely have to give that salary increase to Marina!" He added, making her smile again before kissing her tenderly on the lips.


	37. The philosopher Jagger

**Chapter 37 - The "philosopher" Jagger**

 **...**

* * *

House opened the bathroom door and watched her, facing away from him as she took her shirt off and then unzipped her skirt. Her hand lingered for a millisecond on her belly as she did so, looking at herself in the mirror, but it was just an instant and then she closed her eyes and moved her hand, repressing that gesture, and lowered instead the skirt dropping it to the ground. She bent over to pick it up and then stood, leaning with her hand against the sink for support and closing her eyes again.

She opened her eyes feeling House's hands on her waist and leaned on him, resting her forehead on his chest.

"Do you want to lie down?" He asked, stroking her back.

She shook her head.

"I'm fine... I just need a shower..." she said, looking up and smiling slightly, kissing him lightly on the lips and looking again into his eyes before unclasp her bra.

House looked at her as she walked into the shower, holding back the desire to join her, and then looked at the water that began to flow over her body.

Cuddy let the drops slip on her face before bowing her head, leaning with her hands and forehead against the wall, letting water flow on her neck and back, relaxing to that feeling.

She wished she could stay there forever, surrounded just by the sound of water and by the sensation of those drops running down her face. She wished she didn't have to return to reality, but forced herself to turn off the tap, for a moment savoring again the warmth of the cloud of steam that filled the bathroom.

She put on her bathrobe but hesitated before tying the sash. She looked at herself in the mirror letting her own gaze linger on her breast and then on her belly. That same image would have been very different in a few months... she closed her eyes for a moment at that thought, and took a deep breath trying to erase that image from her mind as she wrapped herself in her bathrobe, knotting the sash before leaving the bathroom.

The serious expression on her face immediately broke into a smile at the scene she faced as soon as she entered her bedroom.

House lay on the bed and Mia lay on him.

"Doesn't she want to sleep?" She asked smiling, sitting down on the bed and stroking in turn her daughter's back.

She didn't cry. But she didn't sleep yet. She just lay there, nestled in her father's arms, with her little head resting on his chest. Her big eyes were opened but she was motionless, almost hypnotized by the beat of his heart and by the big hand stroking her back.

"Four women and all the four of them in love with my chest!" He laughed looking at her with a slightly mischievous look.

Cuddy smiled and shook her head slightly though leaning toward him to kiss him.

"Because your chest is very sexy" she said brushing his lips before kissing Mia's hair.

"Don't tell Daddy that in a few years _three of his women_ will cheat on him with another _man_!" She whispered to Mia, kissing her cheek and then looking up at House again.

"That's why I hope it's a boy this time!" He said, looking into her eyes and raising an eyebrow.

Cuddy looked at him just for a moment before looking down as the smile on her face dissipated.

"Yeah..." she whispered lightly biting her lip before looking at him again with the hint of a smile as she stood up and took her clothes from the drawer.

She untied her bathrobe not facing him, without taking it off as she wore her panties. House looked at the curve of her back and ass while she took off the bathrobe and put on instead a simple white nightie. She never wore a bra to go to bed. Very often she didn't wear even her panties to go to bed. But not tonight. And House continued to watch at her while she tried to avoid his eyes, consciously or not...

She lay down on the bed and looked at Mia unable to hold back a smile as she smiled reaching for her face with her tiny hands.

"No, she's definitely not sleepy" she said, smiling at House caressing Mia's tummy as she now lay in the middle of the bed between her parents.

"Don't look at me with those eyes, you _little gatecrasher_!" House said as Mia laughed at the sound of his voice "You're not allowed to sleep in this bed" he added, tickling her and looking at her as she laughed before leaning toward her, kissing her tummy and making her laugh even more.

Cuddy looked at them and couldn't help but smile, but at the same time she couldn't avoid that _"you little gatecrasher"_ from resounding in her ears. He was playing with her. He rarely called his children _"honey"_ or _"sweetheart"_ ... he used to call them _"shorty", "little monster", "rugrat"_ ... and certainly not because he didn't love them... In that moment she was a _"little gatecrasher"_ in their beds... yet she couldn't keep a thought to pass in her mind...

House looked at Mia as she laughed and he laughed with her.

"Greg... she'll never sleep if you keep to tickle her" she said with a mock glare.

House rolled his eyes and looked at her with a raised eyebrow before looking again at Mia, kissing her little nose as she took his face with both hands.

"Mommy wants me all for herself" he said, looking at Mia and then at Cuddy, this time with a mischievous look, that however she didn't return, instead looking down and then again at Mia.

She caressed her tummy again. She was only in her diaper and her baby onesie. She watched her as she took one of her little foot and tried to put it into her mouth, almost rolling over in the bed. She remembered the exact moment in which she had bought that onesie. _For Grace._ Pink... with a _'Daddy's girl'_ writing... and a little heart in place of the dot above the _"i"..._

She lightly touched that little heart with the tip of her finger and bit her lip. _"Daddy's girl"..._

"What's up?" He asked looking at her as she instead still looked down, avoiding his gaze.

"If..." she paused looking for the right words to say what was in her mind, still touching that writing with the tip of her finger as Mia relaxed in her touch "... if you could have known about this pregnancy _before_..."

"No" he answered, cutting her off and answering her question before she finished it, watching as she bit her lip and nodded slightly.

"No... I wouldn't have made a different choice, Lisa" he pointed out, looking at her as she looked up and met his gaze.

They continued to look at each other for a moment before he spoke again. Her hand continued to caress Mia as she began to close her eyes from time to time, letting go to her mother's caress.

"Probably if Jess was born we would have been focused on him and things would have been different... but she's not a replacement, Lisa... she never was and she'll never be..." he said, looking at her as she looked at Mia still caressing her "If you could _now_ get Jess back... could you give her up?" He asked.

"No!" She immediately replied, suddenly looking up and meeting his eyes.

"Right" He said "So _no_... two months ago I wouldn't have made a different choice... I wouldn't have given her up even if I could foresee this pregnancy..." he said looking into her eyes as he took Mia in his arms.

Her breathing was quiet. Her eyes were now closed. House kissed her hair and she moved slightly hiding her face on his chest.

"Grace has my own eyes... she's _ours_..." he said looking into her eyes "... but... she's _not_ our first daughter" he said, looking at that writing on Mia's belly and then looking again at Cuddy "Rachel is the first who called me _Dad_... the first that made me feel _a Dad_..." he said watching as she bit her lip more as soon as that lip began to tremble slightly "she doesn't have my genes, nor yours, but she has your smile... I don't know how that's possible... but she definitely has your smile... and she was the only one, after you, to be able to _melt me_ just with a smile" he said as she smiled despite her misted eyes "Mia is my daughter... _our_ daughter... I love her as much as I love Grace or Rachel... or you..." he said.

"Anyway..." he continued in a tone of voice completely different from the serious one he had used up until now "... when I told you that, as a child, I would have liked a big family, I didn't think you was going to take me by my word, Cuddy!" He said, laughing and looking at her as a little smile appeared on her lips.

"If three years ago you'd have said me that you wanted four children I would have told you that you were insane!" He said still laughing and shaking his head, watching as she bit her lip again "But... I really don't know what you did to me, Cuddy! I can barely recognize myself ... I just know that, believe it or not, I'm not scared by the thought of another child... " he added, standing up and looking at her as she bit her lip more and then at the little one asleep in his arms.

She watched him as he walked out of the room to put Mia in her crib.

"...You're going to be a great big sister, baby!" she heard him whisper on Mia's forehead.

...

* * *

Cuddy was curled up under the sheets when House came back in the room. Facing away from the bedroom door. He slipped under the sheets closer to her, and wrapped her body with his arm resting his chest against her back and stroking her arm with his thumb. She savored his touch before turning to him, first turning just her head, meeting his lips, and then turning completely to hug him, face to face. House touched her lips again, looking into her eyes as she smiled slightly, closing her eyes and clinging closer to him.

"What's wrong?" He whispered on her mouth. A rhetorical question actually. He knew very well what she was worried about.

Cuddy didn't answer, just opening her eyes as blue met blue.

"You can't foresee the future..." he whispered on her lips, breaking the silence and stroking her back at the same time.

Cuddy nodded slightly, biting her lip.

"But... I can see the past, Greg" she said, repeating the same words he had used once with her.

House looked at her and smiled.

"This line is mine, Cuddy" he said, laughing "I have copyright on it" he added making her smile.

Cuddy shook her head slightly as she couldn't help but smile at him again, and closed her eyes, bowing her head slightly as he kissed her forehead. They stood still. In silence. House closed his eyes in turn, breathing her scent and listening to her breathing. He knew even her breathing by now. She wasn't crying, but certainly she was very close to tears.

"I tried to be pregnant for years..." she said softly, breaking the silence "... failing at every attempt and crying in front of each one of those tests..." she added, slightly biting her lip at that memory.

"Why _that asshole_ has always to _be so fucking right_!" She whispered still biting her lower lip to keep it from tremble.

 _Mick Jagger. The 'philosopher' Jagger. And his... 'you can't always get what you want'..._

House didn't answer, just stroking her back.

"Every time I _tried_ to be pregnant I failed..." She whispered, inhaling deeply before continuing "... with in vitro... with our son ..." she shook her head slightly continuing to keep her face against his neck, savoring the feeling of his lips on her forehead "We have Grace... just because _we didn't want her_..."

She took a deep breath and her voice trembled slightly. House felt a tear on his neck and kissed her forehead again.

"We didn't _plan_ her..." House pointed out, stroking her arm "But we _wanted_ her, Lisa..." he added, feeling her nod against his neck.

"And I'm not going to give _that asshole_ the satisfaction of being right this time" he said making her smile and lift her head, meeting his gaze again as he moved his hand on her belly, stroking her with his thumb.

Cuddy looked at him for a moment as his lips touched hers. She closed her eyes opening her mouth slightly as House did the same. Their tongues sought each other. And found each other. First slightly and then more deeply. His hand moved in her hair, and hers on his stubble as they slowly kissed, both savoring that contact who could sometimes be as intimate as sex.

They opened their eyes at the same time, getting lost in each other, as they looked for air before starting to kiss again. Again a slow, deep kiss, deep as what was between them. Deeply intimate and sensual at the same time. The silence of the room broken only by their breathings and by the sound of their tongues while little moans escaped from time to time to their mouths. Love and passion tied tightly together, while their breathings became more and more labored. House rolled her slowly, pushing her against the mattress and not leaving her mouth while her legs welcomed him with a silent invitation. Neither of them spoke as she lowered her panties and he did the same with his boxers, lowering then the shoulder strap of her nightie and bending over her to kiss her breasts. He just touched her nipple with his tongue, teasing it without sucking on it and smiled on her skin while she held her breath to that feeling.

"This was another one of my clues" he whispered with a smile on her breast, hearing her laugh before she gasped, holding her breathing again. House sucked it lightly and she suddenly held his head with both hands against her breast, moaning louder to that almost painful pleasure.

"I love when you're so sensitive" he whispered with a smile on her lips before finding her tongue again, this time with more passion.

Her breasts weren't the only very sensitive part of her. Always... but even more when she was pregnant. He moved on her as they kissed, rubbing his erection against her and feeling her move with him. He knew he could give her an orgasm even without penetrating her, but it wasn't what he had in mind. He wanted to be one with her, merge with her... feel she was his and feel he was hers. He slipped inside her in one slow movement and felt her tongue stop in his mouth to that feeling, replaced by a deep moan of pleasure.

Cuddy found his mouth again and put a hand behind his head to deepen the kiss, as at the same time she put a hand on his butt pushing him inside herself even more of how much he already was. Deeply and completely. So deep that the sensation of his testicles rubbing against her perineum drove her crazy.

House looked into her eyes and smiled as he pulled out just to push into her again in another slow but firm and deep move, leaving her breathless again and making her close her eyes shut. She closed her eyes with every thrust and then opened them again to look at him, moving with him, under him.

"Oh God, Greg ... yes..." she moaned meeting his gaze before closing her eyes again, tilting her neck and head back as pleasure exploded inside her and she dag her nails into his back.

House sucked her neck as she came. He could clearly feel the contractions of her inner muscles and that feeling mixed with the sound of her moans drove him crazy. He couldn't stand anymore to that extreme pleasure amplified by hers, and he kissed her neck again before moaning hoarsely on her skin letting go inside her, surprised by how much he had missed that feeling in recent days.

They stood still, just listening to their panting breathing and to their hammering heartbeats. She could feel his against her breast and he could feel hers against his chest, while they both tried to catch their breath and she slowly stroked his nape and back.

House raised his head and met her eyes and her smile, resting his forehead on hers. He kissed her on the lips again, looking for her tongue one more time before watching her and smiling.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked stroking his stubble and looking at his smile and then at his eyes.

"At that sort of _pseudo-philosopher_ of Jagger" he said smiling at her again.

Cuddy looked at him with a slightly quizzical look.

"Um... so were you thinking about _him_ while we made love?" She asked not holding back a mischievous smile.

House laughed on her mouth, slightly biting her lip.

"He isn't always right" he said looking at her "You are everything I wanted... and you're mine" he said, kissing her on the lips and looking at her as she closed her eyes and nodded, unable not to smile.


	38. Making peace

Well... here someone asks for a baby boy... someone for another baby girl... and someone even for twins! Whoa! All I know is that 'here' we can really get what we want! So... who knows? ;)

But in the meantime... it's not all hugs and raimbows...

* * *

 **...**

 **Chapter 38 - Making peace**

 **...**

* * *

House looked at her as she entered the kitchen.

"God, Greg, don't let her mouthing your cane!" She said, looking at Mia as she played on House's knees trying to put the cane in her mouth while ignoring her rubber toys.

House laughed.

"She's not interested at all in these _rubber things_ specially created by _expert paediatricians_ to massage her little gums" he said, throwing toward her a colored plastic key and looking at her as she caught it.

"Anyway... apparently... _your_ daughter _took that after you_!" He added with a mischievous look, winking at her as she rolled her eyes, without answering his joke.

He handed her a slice of toast as she sat down at the table. Cuddy gave it barely half a bite before closing her eyes for a second and resting her forehead against the palm of her hand, glancing at House with a exasperated look.

"Don't blame me" he said, smiling slightly and looking at her as she shook her head slightly.

If his intent was to make her smile, this time he failed. When she was pregnant with Grace she couldn't stand the smell of coffee. With Jess her nausea was very mild... This time... it wasn't just coffee... her stomach couldn't keep anything until at least mid-morning and when she got up from bed she could barely stand. It had been only a little over a week and that situation was already starting to become unbearable... with three daughters that was something she couldn't afford.

"I'm going to call your assistant" he said, looking at her "I'm not letting you go to work like this"

"No" she replied, raising her head and getting up at the same time, standing but holding on to the table with a hand for support "I can't, Greg" She said looking into his eyes "In a few hours I'll be better..." she added.

"You can barely standing, Lisa" he said, taking her arm as she passed near him.

"Then I'll be sitting, House" she responded in a drier tone than she would have liked, looking into his eyes "Please, don't make things more difficult" she added in a slightly softer tone.

House looked at her and inhaled deeply biting his tongue to let go of that discussion. They had already fought two days earlier exactly for the same argument. He wanted her to slow down. She, on the other side, didn't want that pregnancy to interfere with her life and work.

 _"What was the point, House?" She had almost screamed not even 48 hours before "just bed and couch for days... and what was the point?" She had repeated as her voice shook slightly in a mixture of anger and tears._

He knew that she was no longer willing to turn her routine upside-down. Even less after she had been burned once. She wouldn't have certainly let any nausea stop her. Staying a whole morning lying on the couch would have just made things more difficult. She would be obliged to think. And she didn't want to think. Not to that pregnancy. Not to that baby. It would have been difficult enough in a few weeks, when her belly would start to grow and people would have started to ask irritating questions about the sex of the baby and the due date. That very thought increased her nausea. She wasn't bothered by those smiles and glances when she was pregnant with Grace. Rather. And not even when she was pregnant with Jess. Now... well... just thinking about that bothered her... Not that she didn't want this baby, but she didn't want to suffer again. It would have happened. The rational part of her clashed with the irrational one and repeated her that it was only a matter of time. It would have happened. So the only unknown question wasn't _IF_... but... _when_...

House had literally had to force her to take an appointment with a gynecologist.

 _"You know I'm not enthusiastic about someone putting his hands in_ what's mine _, Cuddy" he had said with a mischievous look deliberately trying to maintain lightweight that umpteenth argue "But if you don't make that call, I swear that I'll do it"_

She counted the days till every ultrasound when she was pregnant with Grace and Jess... not this time. If she could she'd have simply buried her head in the sand like an ostrich until the day of delivery... _if that day was really going to come..._ But in the end she had given in and she had called for that appointment... only to silence her husband.

...

* * *

A problem in the Radiology Ward. Cuddy ran a hand over her face as she talked on the phone.

"Why can't he come to my office?" She said into the receiver raising her voice slightly in a disappointed tone "I'm not a technician. He didn't need me there" she repeated with a sigh as she listened to the voice on the other end before hang up slamming the receiver.

"Shit!" She said, looking at the phone and putting a hand over her eyes before standing up and get out of her office.

She looked at the danger signs on the door before entering. Not that she needed to watch them actually. She knew she shouldn't be there. Her exposure would be very low... and she would be there only a few minutes... but ionizing radiations were still a risk to the baby. That was the last ward in which she had to be. And the signs on the door were more than clear about it.

She looked at the technician as he tried to identify the problem in the CT machine, listening as he talked, however, unable to focus on his words.

She didn't _have_ and didn't _want_ to be there. It didn't matter if not even three minutes had passed since she was there. She didn't want that pregnancy, but she would never do something that could endanger that... _that little being inside her_... She wasn't irresponsible. She didn't drink even a sip of wine. She barely took a tablet of paracetamol if her head was bursting. She hadn't to be there. _Period._

She looked at her watch and freed herself citing an excuse.

"Let me have a report tomorrow morning in my office, please" she said, shaking hands with him before saying goodbye and leave the room.

Her assistant stopped her before she entered her office.

"Excuse me, Dr. Cuddy, Dr. House came here looking for you just a few minutes ago" She said looking up from her computer

"And... what did you tell him?" She asked already foretelling her answer.

"Er... nothing" she replied, raising her shoulders slightly "Just that there was a problem with the CT machine and..."

"... and I was in Radiology" Cuddy said, finishing the sentence and sighing, shaking her head slightly.

Trisha looked at her with a slightly quizzical look.

"Did he say anything else?" She asked pretending to be calm as she took her cell from her white coat pocket and dialed his number.

Trisha just looked at her, shaking her head and Cuddy just nodded while her call was forwarded directly to the voice mail.

...

* * *

She expected that he wasn't at home. He had been taking care of her for almost two weeks and she kept neglet his attentions. This was just a _straw_... but enough to probably _broke the camel's back_...

She looked at the time. Almost midnight. The girls had been asleep for a couple of hours... she, on the other side, had barely taken off her shoes. She put in the refrigerator the leftovers of the dinner Marina had cooked for them. She hadn't even touched it, but she had hoped that House would have come back for dinner. In any case now it was far too late for dinner. She had left at least four messages on his voice mail and now she began to be worried. He hadn't come home drunk for more than three years... since that night when he had told her that loving her made him a bad doctor... but she definitely was worth it...

She turned off the kitchen light and walked toward the bedroom, beginning to unbutton her blouse.

She heard the bedroom door open suddenly and she slightly gave a start turning her head toward the door and meeting House's gaze.

"Where were you?" She asked, looking into his eyes "I was worried..."

House glared at her.

"You don't give a fuck when I'm the worried one!" He replied dryly. His tone of voice, higher than he would have like, rang in the silence of the room.

House saw on her face the impact of those words, followed immediately by the raising of her defense barriers. Her face hardened, and she raised her head, looking at him with the same look he had used looked at her.

"Do not scream!" She said dryly, with the same slightly annoyed look with which she looked at him every time he entered her office to ask for some risky procedure on a patient.

But... they weren't in hospital...

"And you do not take that tone with me!" He replied in a tone that froze the air between them more than how it already was "We're not in your _fucking_ hospital!" He added as she approached her

Cuddy instinctively stepped back but looked down, slightly biting her lip and finishing unbuttoning her blouse without looking at him. He wasn't drunk ... he didn't smell of alcohol... House watched her in silence as she finished to get undressed, then putting on her nightie. The silence between them weighed a ton.

He was angry. Very angry. He could tolerate everything, but not that she put the hospital needs before hers. And before _his_ child ones. Cuddy was silent. She could feel his eyes on her. She knew she had crossed the line and she had in a sense betrayed his trust.

"I stayed in that ward less than three minutes, _Greg_ " She said, sitting down on the bed trying to justify herself.

House didn't answer and simply held her gaze. The risk might be low, but it was a risk he didn't want to take. And if there was one thing he hated most was that she called him _'Greg'_ during a fight... for calming him down...

"I know the risks..." she said looking into his eyes "I'd never endanger our..." she hesitated, looking down and then again at him "... I'd never endanger _it._.." she repeated

House held her gaze. He took his pillow from the bed and walked out of the room leaving her alone. Cuddy watched him as he closed the door, and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the headboard.

He had never slept on the couch. Ever since they were together.

Cuddy rolled over for the umpteenth time in bed. It was now 4 a.m. , but sleep didn't want to come. She had slept alone for a lifetime... now she couldn't stay a night alone in that empty bed... without him ...

She got out of bed, barefoot, and walked out of the room.

House was asleep on the couch. The TV was on but without audio. His pills and the remote control rested on the coffee table. Cuddy looked at him as she sat down beside him, undecided whether or not to wake him. But she couldn't let him to sleep on the couch... and she couldn't let him sleep if first she didn't apologize... She stroked his arm and House moved, awakening from that light sleeper and meeting her gaze as he opened his eyes.

He looked at her seriously and sat up.

"I'm tired, Cuddy!" He said with a tone of voice that made her immediately shiver "Tell me what you want me to do, because I honestly don't know it anymore" he added, slightly shaking his head.

She didn't answer, holding his gaze for a moment before looking down at her own hands.

"You've spent the last two weeks as someone who is simply waiting for something inevitable to happen" he said watching her as she bit her lip and shook her head slightly.

"Because... it's going to happen..." she replied in a whisper, still not watching him.

"You can't know it!" He said in a firm tone, slightly raising his voice and making her nearly jump "I'm not saying it won't happen. I'm telling you that we can't know it. And we can't live like this." He said, lowering his voice but in the same tone "It's as if I lived every day thinking of dying at any moment" he continued as she look up at him "Maybe, Cuddy! Maybe tonight I'll have a heart attack or... tomorrow a bus will run over Rachel... or Grace... or Mia... while Marina takes them to school or to the park... how many do we see every day, Lisa? You couldn't live if every time you'd think that it could be the last time you spend with them. Either with me. But it's exactly what you're doing with this baby"

He looked at her seriously.

"I can't _impose_ this pregnancy to you" he said watching as she immediately looked up at him at those words "I can't go on like this for another seven months, Cuddy. If you want to have an abortion... it's your choice!" He said, still looking at her while she widened her eyes and opened her mouth slightly as those words hit her like a slap in the face.

"No!" She answered without hesitation, looking into his eyes with a look of disbelief, unable to believe that those words had really exited from his lips. _Really? That was really what he thought of her? That she would voluntarily put an end to that pregnancy?_

He watched as she bit her lip to keep it from trembling, ignoring the urge to hug her, and shook his head slightly before speaking again.

"You can't avoid this baby from being a part of you. You can't just pretend it doesn't exist" He said still looking into her eyes "Don't you even call it _'baby'_ , Lisa ..." he said reaching out to touch her belly and feeling her hesitate to that contact "... you don't touch your belly... you don't want to see it... you don't care to know if our baby is okay or not... and frankly I think of being the only one of us who cares about it"

Cuddy shook her head but couldn't say anything and he looked at her again.

"I know you're scared. I know you're afraid to become attached to it... and then lose it again... but you are the one who should reproach me every time I call our baby _a fetus_. Not me..." he said

Cuddy continued to look at a fixed point in front of her eyes. He was right. She knew he was right. But she felt frozen. She wanted to feel something for her baby but... fear was stronger... and she couldn't help it... she couldn't control that feeling ...

She shook her head, managing to whisper just a _"I'm sorry"_ as she bit her lip, this time unable to prevent that lip from trembling as tears filled her eyes. She closed her eyes and let those tears roll down her cheeks as House drew her to himself and she hid her face against his chest.

She didn't move as he stroked her back. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her hair as his lips rested on her head... and she could feel the beat of his heart... She knew he was right, she would have liked not feeling like that... not feeling that lump in her throat... she couldn't afford to go through that again... to suffer again...

"I-I... I can't... I can't go through that again..." she whispered with difficulty against his chest. Her voice cracked with tears.

House said nothing but held her closer to himself. He knew her fear... because it was his own...

They held each other in silence while seconds became minutes... Eyes closed while listening only to their breathing as minutes passed without either of them moved a millimeter or broke that silent embrace.

"Come to bed?" She asked without moving, as he kissed her hair.

House stroked her back again, but shook his head.

"No..." he whispered.

She looked up at him this time. She had felt his anger fade away while he stroked and kissed her hair. And certainly that _'no'_ wasn't the answer she expected. But even what she read in his eyes wasn't what she expected, as he made her lie down slowly beside him and in his arms, looking for her lips.

The contact with his tongue loosened any doubt. She got lost in that kiss and in his hand caressing her cheek while in turn she stroke his stubble with her thumb.

"What was our rule, Cuddy?" He whispered on her lips resting his forehead on hers.

Cuddy looked into his eyes without losing contact with his lips. The gray-blue of her eyes got lost in the blue of his. And she smiled, continuing to brush his lips with hers.

"Never go to bed without first making peace" she replied smiling slightly, feeling his hand looking for her skin under her nightie, while she simultaneously sought his tongue.


	39. Different ending

**Chapter 39 - Different ending**

 **...**

* * *

"HOUSE!"

He couldn't escape. Sometimes it seemed she had a radar with which she could find him. Or simply she knew him too well not to be able to foresee his moves.

He watched as she approached him, walking as fast as her heels allowed her, and glared at him taking him by his arm.

"C'mon Lisa! Those four idiots don't need me" he said gesturing toward the Clinic "I'm dead tired..."

She stared at him, raising both eyebrows.

"I know you are. I was with you tonight" she said with a look somewhere between serious and annoyed remembering the hours they both spent lulling a crying Mia "So... I'm as tired as you are... maybe more..." she added inhaling and exhaling deeply and putting a hand on her lower back "and if you don't do your work I'll have to do it..." she said with an exasperated look.

House watched her hand as she slightly rubbed her lower back, but she hastened to move her hand as he met her gaze.

"So... it's my wife or my boss the one asking me that?" He said looking into her eyes as she rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Fine! Forget it!" She said in exasperation, turning to leave. At that time she was too tired even for that stupid fight.

House laughed and took her arm.

"I was kidding, Cuddy!" He laughed pulling her a little closer to him, as much as the fact of being in the hospital lobby allowed them "But you're a witch, do you know that, don't you?" He added, looking at her and smiling before leaving her arm and pass near her to go to the Clinic.

Cuddy smiled, biting her lip.

"Which one?" She said aloud making him turning back to look at her again "Your wife or your boss?" She asked still smiling.

"Both of them" he said smiling back before turning again, as she followed him with her eyes.

...

* * *

"Can we for once watching a cartoon in which the mom isn't dead..." Cuddy said smiling, as she held Mia in her arms, watching House and Rachel as they chose a cartoon on DVD.

" _Moms_ are always _dead_ in cartoons, Cuddy!" House said looking at her and laughing "And Daddies remarried with sexy wicked witches" he added, looking at her as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Aren't you going to die, Mom, are you?" Rachel said suddenly turning to Cuddy and running toward her clinging to her leg and looking up to meet her gaze.

Cuddy looked at her, shaking her head and caressing her, bending over to kiss her hair while House answered that question in her place.

"No, Rachel" he said "Don't worry! I _already_ got married to the wicked witch" he added, laughing while Cuddy glare at him.

He approached her and bent to kiss her lightly on the lips as she glare at him again.

" _Sexy._.. Cuddy!" He laughed "Witch... but a sexy one" he laughed, kissing her again and looking at her as she couldn't help but smile.

"Choose a cartoon... I'm going to put Mia in bed and I'll be right back" she said with a smile on his lips.

She came back a quarter of an hour later. The movie had already begun, and House and Rachel ate popcorns from a big bowl.

"Rapunzel?" She laughed watching the DVD case resting on the coffee table and then House, who rolled his eyes.

Definitely not his genre. And Cuddy smiled and shook her head slightly at the thought of how a not-even-six-years-old child could get him to do things that he would never have thought possible... like watching a princesses movie...

"Shut up!" House said, reading her mind as she sat down beside him. Rachel was curled against his right side, Grace was in his arms.

He put an arm around Cuddy's shoulders and kissed her temple lightly before taking some popcorn from the bowl in Rachel's arms and put a handful into his mouth.

"Wow... her mom isn't dead" Cuddy said looking at the screen while a woman with black curly hair brushed Rapunzel's long blond hair.

"That's not her mom" Rachel's voice said from somewhere beyond House "It's a witch. She took her away from her mom when she was just born... but Rapunzel thinks it's her mom" she added without watching away from the screen.

House looked at Cuddy and couldn't suppress a laugh.

"See? ... Sexy witch" he said, pointing at the screen and then looking at Cuddy "And... she even looks a bit like you, Cuddy!" He laughed watching Rapunzel's foster mother, kept young and beautiful by her daughter's magical hair.

Cuddy hit House on the arm and rolled her eyes again.

"It should be a compliment?" She asked watching him as he brought some popcorn to his mouth.

He looked at her again and put a couple of popcorns near her lips, watching her as she opened her mouth, and he couldn't help but smile.

"You're sexy even eating a popcorn, Cuddy" he whispered with a smile on her lips gently kissing her and then licking the salt remained on her lips.

"Greg!" She laughed pushing him away and closing her eyes for a moment.

He laughed. He knew she couldn't control her hormones and that contact had been enough to send a quiver in her lady parts.

"Later" she said, smiling, stroking his stubble as he put his hand on hers.

Half an hour later Grace was asleep in her father's arms. Rachel instead was still looking at the screen, laughing from time to time. Cuddy looked at them both and then looked at House before taking Grace from his arms to take her to bed. House followed her with his eyes. Those shorts made her a gorgeous ass. _'Well... she has a gorgeous ass'_ He thought smiling and running his tongue on his lips as he watched her.

Cuddy returned after a few minutes and stroked his shoulder while standing behind him.

"Would you like something to drink?" She whispered, leaning from behind and kissing his neck gently.

She saw him nodding as he turned his head to meet her lips, stealing her a little kiss.

...

Cuddy unexpectedly met his eyes as she closed the refrigerator door. He was leaning against the doorframe and looked at her while she close the fridge door with her hip, holding a beer in one hand and a bottle of juice in the other one.

"Please... tell me you don't want to watch the ending of this movie?" He said, approaching her and looking into her eyes, taking the bottles from her hands and putting them on the table.

"It's not so bad..." she said, laughing, watching him as he rested his hands on her hips.

"Are you sure you don't prefer... a _different ending_?" He mischievously whispered in her ear while his hands caressed her hips and then went up under the hem of her shorts.

Cuddy let him kiss her neck, then letting his tongue torture her earlobe. He felt her bend her head toward him to escape that feeling as she laughed.

"Greg... no" she laughed putting a hand on his chest and slightly pushing him away "Later..." she repeated, kissing him lightly on the lips and smiling as he nibbled her lip.

She handed him the beer that was on the table and poured two glasses of fruit juice for herself and Rachel. House watched her as she placed the bottle in the refrigerator and then bent over to pick up one of Grace's toy from the floor.

"Oh God..." he heard her whisper as she closed her eyes shut and slightly lost her balance, suddenly leaning against the fridge with her hand.

She felt House took her arm and looked into his eyes, leaning to him.

"It's nothing..." she whispered "It's just dizziness... I... I'm fine..." she said, her forehead still resting on his chest while he held her in his arms. She looked up at him meeting is concerned look.

"Your appointment with Addison is tomorrow, right?" He asked, moving a hand to touch her still flat belly.

Cuddy just nodded.

"Ok" he said, nodding in turn "Come back on the couch... you can't definitely miss that original _happily ever after_!" He added with the hint of a smile as the hint of a smile appeared in turn on her lips.

...

"Remind me not to give her any sugar after 7 pm" Cuddy said smiling, opening the bedroom door and referring to Rachel.

House was already under the sheets and looked up from his medical journal. He looked at her as she began to unbutton her shirt, already slightly too tight on her breast, and he took off his reading glasses for a better look. That was still the only sign of her pregnancy.

"And what are those?" He asked, raising both eyebrows.

Cuddy laughed, running her hands through her hair. Tied in two low pigtails.

"Rachel" she answered, smiling and continuing to unbutton her shirt, revealing more of her cleavage "She made me promise to show her _work_ to _Daddy_..." she added.

House smiled, running his tongue on his lips and putting his journal on the nightstand before getting out of bed.

Cuddy looked at him as he approached her. He wore only a pair of boxers, and her gaze lingered on his chest and shoulders and arms, before returning on his eyes.

House looked at her and unbuttoned the last button of her shirt, then opening it slightly, and letting it slip down her shoulders and on the floor, before putting his hands on her hips.

She smiled as he simply looked into her eyes. Without kissing her. Without touching her, except for the hands on her hips. He just stared at her. With a look that, even after three years, was enough to send her chills down her spine.

"What?" She asked smiling, staring at him in turn.

House touched her pigtails with his fingers.

"Tell her that _Daddy_ like them very much" he said, cupping her face with both hands, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs and then touching her lips with his.

"Really?" She replied with a smile on his lips, as he nodded.

"I dreamed of you like this once" he said, moving his hands on her neck and then making them go down again until her waist "Or it was an hallucination... actually I don't know..." he pointed out sucking on her lip "You gave me a lap dance and... a differential diagnosis" he added, laughing and hearing her laugh in turn.

"A differential diagnosis...?" She mischievously asked, looking into his eyes "Anything else?"

"Yeah... definitely an awful hallucination" he said, laughing on her mouth.

Cuddy looked into his eyes and smiled, running her tongue over her lips.

"Do you want a _different ending_ to that hallucination, House?" She mischievously asked on his mouth.

She didn't give him time to reply as she pushed him slowly against the bed, causing him to sit down, and then stepped back a couple of steps still looking at him. She slightly ran her tongue on her lips again, biting her lip as she slightly lowered her shorts. She turned, facing away from him so he could now see just her back, turning toward him just her head, to continue to look at him, as she lowered her shorts more and then let them drop very slowly on the floor. House looked at her hands as they moved slowly from her buttocks to her back. He watched as her fingers slipped under her bra, unhooking it. He knew that her eyes were on him, but he felt almost hypnotized by those fingers.

Cuddy unhooked her bra but don't let it fall to the ground, turning instead towards him and holding it against her own breast with her hand, waiting for him to look up into her eyes.

"Tell me that you're not going to make me _a differential diagnosis_ even this time" he whispered with a smile, looking at her hand on her breast and then at her eyes.

Cuddy smiled, glancing at his boxers. He was visibly turned on.

She approached him continuing to hold her bra against her breast, standing between his legs, before dropping it to the ground.

His hands moved immediately to her breasts and her mouth found one of her nipple, making her moan and tilt her head back as he sucked on it. She put her hands on his shoulders as she indulged in that feeling for a few moments, then she took a step back, meeting House's questioning look.

"That was definitely an hallucination" she whispered, looking into his eyes and running her fingers into the rubber band of her own panties, lowering them slowly and forcing him again to move his eyes on her hands as she let her underwear slip to the ground "Actually... what I would have given you... wouldn't have been a _differential diagnosis_ " she added, looking mischievously at him and kneeling between his legs, peeling off his boxers and wrapping her hand around his erection.

House watched her as she licked it and then took it into her mouth, moving her head up and down on him and leaving him breathless.

He grasped her hair in his hands, feeling close to the edge, and she looked up at him with a questioning look.

"Wasn't this _the ending_ you wanted?" She asked, smiling mischievously, looking at him as he shook his head and took her arms to help her to stand up.

"This one..." he said with a hoarse voice as he made her straddle him, penetrating her deeply and looking at her as she closed her eyes to that feeling.

"Fuck..." he groaned as he moved his hands on her butt and then on her hips, meeting her pace as she moved on him.

The thought of how much he wanted her had excited her for years... now... that thought still excited her more than she ever could have believed. Even more now that she really was in his arms and he was between her legs...

She felt pleasure suddenly explode inside her as she kissed him continuing to move on him and felt him throbbing inside her together with her own inner folds, while he poured himself inside her, and the image that took shape in her mind exacerbated even more the intensity of her orgasm.

She stood still, in his arms and with her head buried in the crook of his neck, as they both tried to catch their breath and he stroked her back.

Cuddy raised her head and cupped his face in both hands, kissing his lips and smiling before whispering an _"I love you"_ on his mouth, looking into his eyes.

House smiled taking in turn her face in her hands and brushing her lips with his tongue.

"This was the _ending_ I wanted" he whispered looking at her smile and then finding her tongue again.


	40. Is ignorance a bliss?

**Chapter 40 - Is ignorance a bliss?**

 **...**

* * *

House wandered in the Emergency Room hoping to find an interesting tangle of symptoms... but without success. If he had failed the alternative would be another morning in the Clinic, prescribing ointments for sunburns...

He continued to browse folders without finding anything interesting. Saying that he was bored to death was an understatement.

Some sarcastic comment to the nurses or the interns was a pastime... just not to let fade his reputation too much... but not enough to really pass the time...

The vibration of his cell in the pocket of his pants caught his attention and he hastened to put his hand in his pocket. The bored expression on his face changed immediately as he watched the screen and then put the phone back in his pocket, exiting the ER quickly.

He looked into Cuddy's office through the door as he stopped in front of it. She stood near her desk, focused on putting some documents on the furniture behind the desk, facing away from the door. She turned as soon as she heard the door open and rolled her eyes.

"Why did you cancel your appointment with Addison of this afternoon?" He asked dryly staring at her, obviously referring to the text she had sent him a few minutes early.

"Because right now my priority is to have these documents done by this evening" she replied sighing and pointing to the pile of folders on her desk, running a hand on her nape and slightly rubbing her neck.

House looked at her seriously.

"And isn't our child one of your priorities?" He asked abruptly, looking at her as she closed her eyes and ran her hand over her forehead.

 _Our child..._

Cuddy took a deep breath before open her eyes and look at him.

"It's not what I said, House" she replied holding his gaze "A few more hours won't change anything. I didn't _cancel_ it. I just moved it to tomorrow morning. I'm just little more than nine weeks pregnant... _you'll be_ barely able to see its heartbeat" she added, putting again a few documents on the shelf.

 _You will be able._ Not... _we'll be able..._ And these were shades that he certainly didn't miss.

"Are _you_ telling _me_ that it's just an embryo, Cuddy?" He said, raising his voice slightly and emphasizing the words _you_ and _me._

Cuddy rolled her eyes and sighed again, then staring at House.

"For the second time... it's not what I said!" She repeated in the same tone he had just used with her "It's our child... but a few hours won't change anything..." she said holding his gaze.

House continued to look at her. And she at him.

He still held her gaze, breathing in deeply and opening his mouth to speak again, but closing it immediately after. He gave her only one more look and turned around, walking out of her office and slamming the door.

...

* * *

He was angry. Very angry. Enraged. He knew she was scared. He wasn't stupid. He knew that she postponed that moment, that ultrasound, because she was afraid that it would confirm her fears. But he was tired. Tired of trying to break through a locked door. Tired of quarrels that led to nothing. He had restrain himself in her office that morning. He had bitten his tongue, not only metaphorically, not to scream that _'fuck you, Cuddy!'_ that was just waiting to come out of his lips.

Maybe he shouldn't have to restrain himself, he wouldn't have to continue to protect her... after all, she didn't want to be protected... Maybe those words would have hit like a slap in the face... shocking her and making her react.

It wasn't like her. It wasn't like her to hide in front of problems instead of facing them. But this awareness wasn't a valid justification. Not anymore. He was tired and angry and... he didn't want to see her... He had avoided her all day, not giving a fuck if she had lunch or not, and not giving a fuck if she had locked her door and cried after he had slammed that fucking door. Maybe she had cried. Maybe not. Perhaps she was so stubborn that she believe to be right even this time. But honestly... he didn't give a fuck. Did she want to be left alone? Fine! He was going to satisfy her. The old House was certainly very good at that.

 _Yeah... the old House..._

"Dr. House..."

House watched the ball as it bounce on the wall before catching it and looking up at the young red-haired nurse standing in the doorframe of his office. He remembered her. It was the same nurse of the Emergency Room. _Mary._ Or... something like that... The one who turned the same shade of her hair at the slightest joke. The poor unlucky one who had been practically his _punching bag_ that afternoon, after his quarrel with his wife.

"What? Did you get lost?" He asked curtly and in a slightly contemptuous way rubbing his leg with one hand and continuing to throw his ball against the wall with the other one, then catching it.

"No... I-I..." she stammered, looking into his eyes and then looking down immediately.

She hated how this man made her feel... pure discomfort... his gaze was enough to make her blush and stammer... _What the hell could a woman like Dr. Cuddy see in that man?_ She was beautiful, authoritative, strong... she was the boss, but she respected the people she worked with... she was what she would like to be or become... he, on the other side, was... sarcastic, contemptuous and often quite rude.

"Your... y-your wife..." She stammered again, mentally cursing herself for how her brain and mouth didn't want to cooperate.

House glared at her and stopped the ball in his hand.

" _Dr. Cuddy_ " he specified, slowly enunciating those two words. _Not 'his wife'_. Not at work. Much less now that he was definitely _pissed off. With his wife._

"Um... yeah, sorry... _Dr. Cuddy_..." she repeated, trying to ignore how her hands were sweating "... Dr. Cuddy...er... she... sh-she n-needs you... i-in the Emergency Room..."

House snorted and stared at her.

"Tell her that I'm not one of her _kiss-asses_!" He said dryly continuing to look at her and throwing the ball against the wall again "She has several of them to which to..."

"Er... no..." she interrupted him, looking down at the tip of her shoes, suddenly become very interesting.

House looked at her again and saw her swallow and breathe deeply before looking again up at him.

She looked at him, feeling like an idiot. And knowing that he was thinking the same thing. So timid that she couldn't put four words in a row.

"Your w-wife... er... Dr. Cuddy... she's in the emergency room... _as a patient_ " she said,finally managing to articulate that sentence.

She saw the look on House's face suddenly change as he looked into her eyes, and the white and red ball bounced on the wall and then tumbled beneath his desk.

"What happened?" He asked, looking straight into his eyes.

Mary hesitated.

"I don't know..." he said "I just know that... she felt sick while..."

House didn't let her finish her sentence and stood up, quickly walking out of his office, followed by the young nurse, limping as fast as his legs allowed him.

...

* * *

He looked around as soon as he walked into the Emergency Room, before turning back to the nurse who was still behind him with an annoyed and questioning look at the same time.

"She's in SIO..." she said, looking at him and gesturing toward the back of the room.

 _SIO. Short Intensive Observation_

The flash in House's eyes caught her off guard. She was used to see _sarcasm_ in those eyes. Maybe... _anger_... But that flash in his eyes... that was different... _Concern?_ Or... more... _fear?_ ... _And what else?_ ... _Vulnerability?_ And ... _WHOA_... she had never noticed how beautiful his eyes were... a _sky-blue_ ... _no, ocean... ocean-blue... or a sky-mirrored-in-the-ocean-blue... or ..._

"Where?" House said, looking straight at her bringing her back to reality as his gaze went back to be the one she knew and had on her the same impact as a cold shower.

"Er... 3... SIO number 3... but ..." she said, pointing to one of the doors and watching him as he limped quickly, holding his leg with his hand as he walked.

She followed him realizing that she had been petrified again by his eyes, and joined him quickly as he opened the door, cursing herself at the same time for not finishing that sentence. Again. Once again words hadn't exited immediately from her mouth, but had frozen in her throat.

 _That woman fascinated her... she was what she would have liked to be... She had looked at her as she talked with the chief of maintenance before she greeted him with a nod and he came back to work._

 _"Dr. Cuddy, are you ok?" She had asked her, looking at her as she closed her eyes, leaning on the desk with one hand and putting her other hand on her lower belly..._

 _"Er... yes" she had answered, before whispering rather a weak_ 'no' _as she suddenly leaned on her arm with her hand._

 _"May I... call someone?" It was the only thing she was able to say before she saw her collapsing on the ground without answering her question and without she could hold her, falling on the floor with her._

She rolled her eyes to herself as she reached him, practically bumping against his shoulders. _Damn!_

 _A handful of nurses had gathered around Cuddy at the exact moment in which she had slumped to the ground, taking her on the floor with herself. Like a swarm of flies on honey. And obviously none of those nurses had cared to ask her if she was all right, while she stood up, fixing her uniform with both hands. Dr. Johnson, the chief of ER, had broken through them like Moses through the waters of the Red Sea, kneeling beside Dr. Cuddy and dissipating that crowd of curious eyes, as he checked her vital signs. "Get back to work" he had said to all of them with a serious look, instead gesturing to her to help him. HER! She was always trying to blend in with the wallpaper! And that, instead, she promptly drew attention to herself! Like that morning with that bastard of Dr. House! God... his jokes made her face turn the same color of her hair! And they erased her thoughts! And that asshole enjoyed it! Oh he definitely enjoyed it!_

 _And of course, who but her had "won" the thankless task of going to call the most odious doctor throughout the hospital?_

 _Damn!_ She definitely had to tell him that Dr. Cuddy wasn't in SIO because she needed of intensive care!

"... privacy..." that was the only word that House heard of her words as she bumped against his back and then immediately stepped back. He didn't even care about turning back and looking at her. His attention was no longer for her. Not anymore.

Cuddy was lying on the bed, eyes closed and her head turned away from the door. She wasn't wearing a hospital gown, but still her clothes. Her white blouse was open and Dr. Johnson was auscultating her heart, moving only slightly her bra by side and holding her wrist with his hand to check her pulse.

House called her name as soon as he opened the door and _Mary_ was caught off guard again by the tone of his voice and the way he said that name. _Lisa_. One word. Her name. But his tone... so different from the tone with which he had talked with her just a moment before that it almost seemed like it came from another person. Concern and affection together. And... no... not just affection... what was that? ... Something more... definitely something more.

Cuddy turned her head toward the door and met his gaze.

 _Holy God, the way he looked at her_... that gaze... those eyes... She would have paid for a man to look at her like that...

"I'm fine, Greg" she said stretching an arm toward him.

"What happened?" He asked, taking her hand, before looking at Johnson, still standing next to her.

He instinctively opened the folder that was on the bed while Dr. Johnson took off his stethoscope and looked at House and then again at Cuddy.

"Everything's fine, Lisa" he said smiling slightly at Cuddy "If they don't fix quickly the air conditioning system I fear there will be others that will follow your example" he added, laughing and touching her arm before returning to watch House.

"She only had a faint... the emergency room is an oven today... A little rest and hydration. Nothing to worry about" he said, looking at House.

He picked up the need for a drip from the bed and put it in House's hands as he looked at him with a questioning look.

"I didn't succeed. Maybe you know how to be more _convincing_ with our boss" he said, giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder, before leaving the room with Nurse Mary.

House looked at the folder resting on the bed, reading it quickly and then looking up at Cuddy... with a reproachful look.

 _Loss of consciousness. Blood pressure: 80/50 mmHg. Heart rate: 105 bpm, rhythm. Blood glucose 70 mg /dl ... No neurological signs. Normal ECG. She refuses further investigations and treatment._

No reference to her pregnancy.

"You are the living proof that patients lie and interfere with doctors' work" he said giving her a dirty look and then resting on the nightstand the drip that Dr. Johnson had given him.

Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"I just passed out. There are almost 104°F out there..." Cuddy said, touching his arm "I'm fine"

She took the folder from House's hands and closed it, putting it on the bed.

"Do you have pain?" He asked, looking into her eyes and putting a hand on her stomach as she shook her head slightly.

House continued to look at her but his gaze moved from her eyes to the bruise on her cheekbone. And he touched it with his fingers.

"I must have hit on something falling on the ground" she said looking into his eyes "... it doesn't hurt..." she added, beginning to button her blouse.

"Yeah..." he said looking at her and lifting her blouse, running his fingers on another bruise on her side "Does your back hurt?"

"No..." she answered again, lifting her back from the pillow to sit up.

"Keep lying. I'm going to give you a look" he said in a tone that didn't allow a _no_ as an answer as he stood up to take the ultrasound machine from the bottom of the room.

Cuddy looked at him almost glaring eyes, but he held her gaze.

"House, it's nothing..." she repeated, ignoring his words and sitting up "I'm fi..."

House looked at her as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply putting a hand on her forehead while her vision clouded again, forcing her to get back lying.

"Lisa...?"

He watched her as she shook her head slightly as if to say _'it's nothing'_ , and inhaled and exhaled deeply before opening her eyes to look at him. Of course, her blood pressure was still too low. It was obvious to him and it was also for her.

"I'm fine" she said, meeting his exasperated gaze for just a second before looking down.

House glared at her and took her arm.

"I said I'm fine!" She repeated pushing his hand away. Her tone driest than she wanted.

"DAMN IT! I'M TIRED OF YOUR BULLSHITS, CUDDY!" He dryly said looking into her eyes and taking her arm again, holding it firmly against the mattress while with the other hand he took the drip from the nightstand beside the bed. "I can do it even with one hand" he said putting the tourniquet around her arm and fingering the vein in the crook of her arm with the tip of his fingers before taking the needle and put it into her vein, still holding her arm with the other hand.

He watched as she bit her lip, but relaxed her arm, looking at her own arm, and not at him. He let go of the grip on her arm and used both hands to connect the drip more easily.

Her hand grabbed his before he walked away and he looked at her, meeting her eyes and feeling anger burn off as he got lost in the expression of her eyes.

"Sorry..." she whispered softly biting her lip "God, my love... I'm so sorry..." she repeated, looking down and slightly shaking her head "... it's just that I... I'm..."

House sat down on the bed and intertwined his fingers with hers, then stroking her with his thumb. _'...scared'._ He didn't need her to finish that sentence to know how she felt. He could easily end up that sentence in her place... A positive pregnancy test wasn't enough to indicate that the pregnancy was going well. It could be ectopic. Or there could be no fetal heartbeat. She knew it. And he knew it too. And it was because of that that she didn't want to know... But _ignorance_ wouldn't have changed things...

He cupped her chin with his other hand, lifting her face and forcing her to look at him.

"Keep lying" he said, bending to kiss her lightly on the lips, with a completely different tone from the one with which he had said those same words a few minutes before.

Cuddy nodded and took a deep breath, unzipping her skirt, before House made it slide down her legs, doing the same with her panties.

"If you wanted some _erotic toy_ you just had to ask, Cuddy" House said, laughing as he took the probe for a transvaginal ultrasound.

She shook her head, unable to hold back a laugh.

"What a fool!" She said, smiling and shaking her head "For the record... I'm not thrilled to have that thing in my vagina" she added, looking as he smiled in turn and put some gel on the probe.

"Don't worry... you're accustomed to very different measures" he added, still laughing, kissing her lightly on the lips with a mischievous look, with the specific intent to make her smile and lighten the mood.

She smiled again, nodding slightly and running her tongue on her lips, while House switched on the ultrasound machine.

"Take a deep breath..." he said, looking at her and she looked at him inhaling deeply.

She couldn't watch the monitor from that position, but even if she could have, she wouldn't. She continued to look at House for a few seconds, studying the expression on his face as he watched that screen, focused on it. She wanted to know and yet... she didn't want to know... House glanced at her just for a moment as she closed her eyes slightly biting her lip. She couldn't prevent that image from giving her an emotion and from becoming the first indelible image of her child... She wanted to see it. And at the same time she didn't want it... She didn't want to become attached to it... Not again...

She felt House's hesitation as he still slightly moved the probe inside of her, and she opened her eyes, watching him and not the monitor. She watched him as he exhaled slowly and swallow, but no other sound came from his lips. His eyes focused on that screen. _Serious. Worried_. And her heart skipped a beat. What he was looking at was _not_ what he wanted to see. Or that he _expected_ to see.

She had thought to be prepared to see that look on his face... she had thought of having built a strong enough defensive wall around herself... _but no..._

"Greg ...?" She whispered slightly lifting her back from the bed to sit up, leaning on her elbows, to be able to see the screen.

"Keep lying" he said without looking at her, just putting a hand on her shoulder and forcing her to lie down again as he deeply inhaled and exhaled, and kept looking at the monitor.

 _God... no... not again..._

She couldn't prevent the lump that suddenly closed her throat as she moved on her face the hand that was on her chest.

 _It couldn't be true..._ she still had nausea. A very strong nausea every morning. She had moved all her meetings at least after ten o'clock in the morning because of that nausea. It promptly faded after a few hours since she woke up. She was very tired... so much that sometimes she could barely standing... but she was fine. She had the same dizziness she had had when she was pregnant with Grace... and she had had that fainting, but... no pain... no bleeding. Nothing.

 _She didn't want a pregnancy..._ She had tried to stay detached... but the truth was that she hadn't been successful. _Not really._ She had tried to prevent that a bond formed between her and that baby... that's why she never touched her belly... she voluntarily repressed a gesture that actually would be spontaneous to her... _caressing her baby_... She had tried to convince herself that not thinking about it she wouldn't be fond of that child. That it would be enough not calling it _'baby'._ After all it was just a _fetus_. Indeed an _embryo._ How many times in the past she had argued with House for that banal word, which actually hides something bigger... Now sides were reversed. Now... he called it _'our child'_ , she _didn't._ _But who was she kidding?_ None knew about her pregnancy. Not even her mother. Or her sister. Or Blythe. Only Wilson... so probably even Teddy... but if she knew, for sure she didn't let her know... She had called Addison and taken an appointment at her office in Trenton because she wanted that none at the hospital could know... After all, inside herself she felt that however that pregnancy wouldn't go far enough... that it would probably ended before anyone had got to notice anything ... Two miscarriages... one at half of pregnancy... just a few months before the due date... the probability she could take a pregnancy to term were very low... She knew it... from the moment in which she had looked at the second line on that pregnancy test... _so why? Why now she felt like this?_ Basically a miscarriage just after a few weeks of pregnancy was much better than at half of pregnancy... as with Jess... So...if it had to happen better right now... After all it was just a little over two weeks since that pregnancy test... little more than fourteen days... just a little more than fourteen days...

It was _just an embryo_... too small that it was still impossible to know the sex... too small to have a name... and yet...

... And yet _she already loved it..._

She could lie to everyone, but not to herself... She could wait a day or months to make public her pregnancy... but the truth was that anything wouldn't have changed... she had wanted to believe that _losing it_ would have been less painful just because she still repeated like a mantra that it was only an embryo of a few weeks...

 _She would have liked not to love him... but... she loved him ..._

And... _guilt_ suddenly mixed with sorrow...

House was right... he had always been right... _she didn't deserve to be a mother..._

... She had never caressed it ... never seen its heartbeat fluttering... never called it _'my baby'_ ... She had just pretended that it didn't exist...

She felt a tear on the corner of her eye and hastened to wipe it with her hand without opening her eyes.

It couldn't be true... _she wanted her baby ..._

 _... Oh God... she wanted her baby..._

 _... She just wanted her baby..._

"Lisa..."

House stroked her arm, awakening her from her thoughts "It's all right..." he said moving her hand from her eyes.

Cuddy opened her eyes meeting the blue of his and bit her lip, swallowing and then closing her eyes again for a moment as she inhaled deeply, trying to fight back the tears and regain control over herself.

"Hey... it's all right" he repeated, nodding toward the monitor.

Cuddy looked into his eyes and the half smile that appeared on his lips caught her off guard.

"W- what?" She asked as if she wasn't sure she had understood his words "Is there... the heartbeat?" She asked him, not having the courage to turn her head toward the monitor and looking instead for an answer in his eyes.

House looked at her, slightly biting his lip in turn.

"Er... I don't know how to tell you..." he said looking into her eyes and shaking his head slightly, with the hint of a smile.

Cuddy looked at him, unable to decipher his gaze. He was smiling, but there was something in his eyes that she couldn't tell... as if concern clashed with that smile and his mind couldn't know to which of those two to give in...

"Is there or... is _not_ there? _"_ She said, slightly sitting up, ignoring the nausea that movement caused, leaning on her elbows and reaching for the monitor to turn it a bit more toward herself.

House looked at her as she watched the image on the screen and then turned her head toward him meeting his gaze.

 _"There is..."_ he said, still looking at her and biting his lip as she looked at him, unable to say anything, her mouth slightly open but any sound came from that, as she watched the monitor again and then him again.

He watched as she covered her eyes again with her hand then lying down slowly. Her features were less tense, but it was hard to tell if she was about to laugh or to cry... Probably both...

"You hoped _too much_ that there was that heartbeat, Cuddy!" House said letting out a laugh as a half smile appeared on her lips as she bit her lip, still covering her eyes with her hand, shaking her head slightly.

"I... I'm not going to tell Marina" she said smiling, without opening her eyes.

House didn't answer, but smiled and stood up, covering her with a sheet up to her waist and putting the ultrasound machine on the other side of the room. He checked her drip before sitting again down beside her, watching her as she slightly caressed her belly for the first time in the last few weeks. He put his hand on hers, stroking her hand and repeating for a while that gesture with her, looking into her eyes.

Cuddy moved her hand up along his arm and his shoulder, lifting her back from the pillow as he helped her to sit up and then drew her closer to himself, letting her hide her face against his chest as he stroked her back.

"Are you ok?" He asked, kissing her hair.

Cuddy nodded, without answering, staying for a while just close to him and lost in his embrace before kissing his chest and then looking up at him.

"You're worried" She said looking at the expression in his eyes. Not a question. An observation. The same concern she had read in his eyes only a few minutes before.

"Of course I am. I'd be a stupid if I weren't, Lisa" he said stroking her cheek with his thumb "For your health... not for _this_..." he added, still stroking her belly and kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Greg... I don't want you to be delu-..." she whispered, biting her lip, looking into his eyes as he took her face in both hands.

"It won't happen" he whispered on her lips keeping her from finishing that sentence and kissing her again on the lips as her features relaxed at his words. He knew he couldn't foresee it, but she needed to hear those words, and to start to believe it could be true.

"It won't happen" he repeated on her mouth, stroking her cheekbones with his thumbs and this time looking for her tongue.

* * *

 _..._

 _So? Did you enjoy this chapter? Did you read between the lines? I guess so!_

 _I'm translating as fast as I can... so... do I deserve a review as reward? ;)_


	41. Bets

**Chapter 41 - Bets**

 **...**

* * *

 _A month later_

...

House was in the differential room. Eyes closed while he rhythmically tapped his cane on the floor, listening to Taub and Chase debating on the set of the patient's symptoms.

"House, you have to convince Cuddy to authorize a brain biopsy" Taub said.

House opened his eyes and looked at him.

"No" he said, looking at Taub and then again at his cane, turning it over in his hands.

"W-what... why _'no'_?" He said in an exasperated tone watching Chase to find support and looking at House again.

Chase stared back at Taub and then looked in turn at his boss.

"Is it a _I-don't-want-to-stress-Cuddy_ 'no'? Or... a _I-don't-want-a-biopsy_ 'no', House?" Chase asked looking at him and raising an eyebrow.

House look up at them both as he stood up.

"I don't want to stress Cuddy _AND_ I don't want a biopsy... not yet" he pointed out "Redo the lumbar puncture!" He said walking toward his office.

Chase watched Taub and then House again.

"Why don't you want to _stress_ Cuddy?" He asked emphasizing the word _'stress'_ and raising again an eyebrow as House stopped, still looking away from him and facing the door, bowing his head slightly before turning to look at him again.

He met Chase's curious gaze. Almost ten years in his team had certainly honed his observation skills. He stared at him with a very mischievous look and shook his head running his tongue on his lips.

"If the two of you could sleep with a chick like her, you wouldn't have to ask me" he said looking at them both before turning back walking into his office.

...

* * *

"Mama... pee" Grace said watching Cuddy and then looking down at her own feet, biting her lip.

"Grace, no..." Cuddy said, shaking her head and looking at House as he laughed.

"She's not even two years old, Lisa" he said, laughing "I told you that it's too early to try to potty-train her!" He said, looking as she glared at him and then picked Grace up in her arms.

"Maybe we should even try to enroll her on Yale!" He shouted laughing, looking out the door as she left the room to put a pair of dry panties on Grace.

"Make yourself useful" she said, throwing him a rag and watching him as he rolled his eyes.

She couldn't help but smile as he caught it. A couple of years ago he would never have done that.

He looked at them as they walked back into the kitchen and Grace ran toward him trying to climb on his knees. He picked her up and tickled her.

"Don't pee on me, kiddo, ok?" He said making her laugh again.

Cuddy looked at them and again she couldn't help but smile.

"Your mother says you were her age" she said, pointing to Grace.

"And Freud would say that this explains a lot" he said, looking at her and shaking his head, smiling "... and in any case... just in case you forgot, my father was a sort of twin brother of Hitler, Lisa"

Cuddy laughed, watching Grace and taking a bottle of water from the fridge. Actually she would have gladly waited a few months for that _"train"_ but it was a lot easier to handle some _"incidents"_ as long as the warm summer days allowed Grace to run in the house wearing just her panties. She took a sip before being distracted by the sound of her cell phone.

She glanced at him as soon as she read the name on the screen and he looked at her with a questioning look.

"Hello..." she said looking away and leaning with her lower back against the kitchen table.

He watched as she closed her eyes, biting her lip and hurried to put Grace on the floor and to stand up, approaching her. Cuddy looked up and smiled slightly.

"Thank you, Addison ... really..." she said into the receiver, smiling and resting her palm on House's chest, looking into his eyes as she greeted Addison and hung up.

He didn't need to ask her what that call was for. They had been waiting for that call for days. The results of CVS (*) . So he looked for the answer in her eyes. Cuddy bit her lip, staring at him, putting her arms around his waist as she couldn't help but smile. And her smile was the only answer he needed.

"Do you have any idea of how many diapers we'll have to change in a few months?" She asked looking at him and then at Grace and Mia.

House just close his eyes and nodded as if to say _'don't make me think about that!'_ as he bent to kiss her on the lips.

...

* * *

Cuddy rolled over in bed, feeling Mia's crying and ran her hand over her face before opening her eyes. House touched her arm, whispering an _"I got it..."_ while she slightly smiled and he kissed her lightly on the lips.

He returned a few minutes later, putting an arm around her and leaning his chest to her back.

"Is she back to sleep?" She asked him, taking his arm and wrapping it more around her own body.

"Yeah... she just lost her pacifier..." he replied kissing her neck, as she turned her head toward him to meet his lips, before turning around completely, pressing her body against his.

"It's not even 6 a.m., Lisa" he whispered with a smile on her lips.

"I know" she said, smiling and closing her eyes as if to say _'I can't help it'._

House watched her, running his tongue on his lips.

"This time I have a hard time to _keep pace with you_ " he said with a smile on her lips "No yoga?" He asked, laughing.

Cuddy shook her head slightly.

"I didn't ask you anything" she said biting her lip and moving slightly on her side of the bed, trying to turn and face away from him.

House laughed, drawing her closer to him again, and face to face with him.

"Do you want _something to suck_ to go back to sleep too?" He asked mischievously as she rolled her eyes and slightly slapped his shoulder.

"Hey... I was joking" he said, laughing , on her mouth before looking for her tongue and moving his hand on her butt. "Well... actually not completely" he added, laughing. He stared at her as his hand found her panties, beginning to lower them.

Her hand stopped his and he looked at her.

"I want you more than how you want me" he whispered, moving her hand on his erection and seeing her pupils dilate.

"I don't think so..." she answered, smiling on his mouth, letting his hand caress her between her legs and move her panties sideways. An _"oh God, Lisa"_ escaped from his lips to the feeling of how much already turned on she was. .

And he couldn't resist.

He pushed her against the mattress and leaned over her, kissing her neck and going down on her cleavage as he peeled her panties off and then caressed her breasts with one hand, then moving down again between her legs. He stroked her between her legs as he kissed her, forcing her to moan into his mouth. The way in which she arched her back pushing her groin more against his hand in a silent _'more'_ drove him crazy.

He stroked her thigh and leg, looking into her eyes and finding her mouth again while her hands stroked his stubble.

He didn't moved on top of her and between her legs, but turned her slowly on her stomach, bending to kiss her neck and back and sucking her behind her ear while shivers ran down her spine.

"Am I hurting you?" he whispered as he moved over her resting his chest on her back, trying not to crush her.

Cuddy shook her head, whispering just a _'hhhmmm'_ as she could clearly feel his erection between her buttocks. That feeling was enough to make her moan in anticipation.

She liked his weight on her body. She liked the feeling of being his. It was complicity and trust.

He entered her slowly and he heard her hold her breath. God, he loved that angulation... and he felt her slightly lift her hips to give him greater access to her body.

House continued to kiss her back and neck as he moved in and out of her. Her moans drove him crazy. And it drove him crazy the way in which she tilted her neck back, toward him, to be kissed even more. And the way in which she turned her head to look at him and to be kissed on the mouth even if he was behind her. He couldn't stop kissing her as he thrust into her. Kissing her mouth. Her neck. Her back. Kissing every inch of her skin he could reach. Her hands clutched the sheets, and her body moved slightly under him against those same sheets. He could clearly tell what drove her crazy even if he couldn't look into her eyes... by how her knuckles turned white and by how she gasped and then held her breath from time to time.

"Oh God Greg... please... don't stop..." she moaned as her moans became more pressing and she was pushed inexorably to the edge of pleasure.

She slightly lifted her hips more to be penetrated even more deeply, meeting his thrusts, and he couldn't stand anymore, moaning as she pushed him in turn to his climax.

He collapsed on her body, resting his forehead on her back, but trying not to crush her with his weight. He kissed her back again as she moved her hair from her face, before moving to her side still stroking her neck and back with his hand.

She turned on her back and smiled. Her left hand on her lower abdomen, still tense after her orgasm. She looked into his eyes and found his mouth as he bent to kiss her lightly on the lips, moving in turn his hand on her belly and caressing her. Twelve weeks of pregnancy and her little baby bump was already visible when she was naked.

"So? Am I able to stand at _your_ pace?" He asked smiling, still stroking her belly as she put her hand on his.

"Yes" she answered, smiling "You can stand _our_ pace very well" she said.

She closed her eyes for a moment while the alarm clock rang, then meeting House's gaze.

"Tell my boss that she won't be allowed to complain when she find me asleep in the clinic today" he said, smiling, kissing her lightly on the lips.

...

* * *

House watched as she snorted, dropping her arms along her body and then letting her skirt to slip to the ground, kicking it into a corner with her foot, before looking for a pair of pants in the closet.

"Nothing fit me anymore" she said glancing at him in exasperation.

"Well... I fit _in_ you" he replied laughing "Quite well I would say" he said with a sly look, looking as she rolled her eyes at him.

"God, you're so stupid" she replied as however she couldn't help but smile "I'm not kidding..." she said trying to button a pair of pants and sighing "I can't already button them anymore... and I haven't started my fourth month yet" she said.

"Well, I'm not surprised" he replied laughing, moving closer to her and stroking her round lower abdomen.

Cuddy looked at his hand and smiled.

"Yeah..." she said, laughing.

He looked at her as she took from the closet a simple black skirt, putting it on without any problem. No zipper. No buttons. Just an elastic waistband.

"Definitely better" she smiled, looking at her own belly "At least I can breathe. But I don't think I'll be able to hide it for long this time" she said, putting on a soft cream-colored shirt that completely hid the roundness of her belly.

"Anyway... my team is getting suspicious" he said, watching her as she looked at herself in the mirror, and hugging her from behind, putting his hands on her belly and kissing her neck. She was too thin and there was no way that someone could think that that roundness was just a gain of weight.

...

* * *

"Spill the beans, House!" Chase said, walking into House's office and making him looking up from his computer.

House looked at him with a questioning look, then watching Taub, standing beside Chase, and then watching Chase again.

"Cuddy is expecting a baby" he said staring at him as if he was just stating a fact..

"No" he replied, holding his gaze and shaking his head.

Chase continued to look at him, trying to decipher his gaze.

"Yes, she's expecting a baby" he repeated.

"She's not expecting _a baby_ " he answered still staring at him.

Taub laughed, shaking his head. And stretched his hand toward Chase, his palm facing up.

"Cough up! $ 200!"

House still watched them suppressing a smile before moving his eyes behind them as they turned their heads too, following his gaze and watching Cuddy as she entered House's office. They both scanned her from head to toe and she looked at them with a quizzical look before looking at House.

"What's up?" She asked, looking at the three of them, one by one.

"Chase just lost 200 bucks. Because you are _not_ expecting a _baby_ " he said, smiling and biting his lip, crossing his arms on his chest and moving his chair back then stretching his legs on his desk, before looking at Chase again. "Are you sure it's a good idea to tell the _lady boss_ that she's got fat, Aussie?" He said, looking at Chase "At the very least you should give them my hours of clinic duty until the end of the year, Cuddy!" He said glancing from Chase to his wife.

"Only?" She replied, staring at House.

"I didn't say until the end _of which_ year" he said, laughing, watching her while the corner of her mouth curved slightly into a smile.

Cuddy kept to look at House, holding back that smile, and then looked at Chase and Taub, raising her eyebrows slightly and then looking down at her own belly, before looking up at Chase again.

"I'm not expecting a baby" she said.

"You lost Chase!" Taub said, laughing and again stretching his arm out toward him " Cough up!" He repeated, laughing.

Chase looked at both of them. First at Cuddy and then at House and then again at Cuddy ... and he shook his head, laughing.

"I can't believe it. An _House_ " He said, looking at House "... And a second _House_ " he said, looking at Cuddy " _it's not a baby_.. because it's _a fetus_...?" He said watching them both in the eyes.

House glanced at Cuddy before looking again at Chase.

"Like... _'if you stay with a cripple you'll learn how to limp'_ (**)?" He said nodding and looking at Chase "It fits perfectly!" He said still nodding "But... no... an hypothetical child of mine isn't just a fetus... she's not expecting _a fetus_ " he said, shaking his head.

Cuddy shrugged, holding back a smile to the expression on Chase and Taub's faces, and glanced again at House.

Chase looked at both of them, before looking at her again as his eyes opened wide.

"OH MY GOD...!" He laughed watching House and then Cuddy again "You're not expecting _a baby_. Or _a fetus_. Because they're... Oh God! Are there _two of them_?" He asks laughing still looking into her eyes.

Cuddy bit her lip and smiled, shaking her head slightly and looking at House.

"Pay your bet!" She said, looking this time at Taub "... _double_ ..." she added, laughing, turning and leaving the room, still smiling as she walked away.

* * *

 _ **...**_

 _ **Author's note:**_

 _ *** CVS**_ _= Chorionic villus sampling. It's a form of prenatal diagnosis, which entails sampling of the chorionic villus (placental tissue). It's used to determine chromosomal or genetic disorders in the fetus. It's done during early pregnancy (earlier than amniocentesis) and it's recommended when maternal age is above 35 because of the increased risk of Down's Syndrome._

 _ **** 'If you stay with a cripple you'll learn how to limp'**_ _it's a literally translation of the Italian saying "Chi va con lo zoppo impara a zoppicare" that is more or less as the English_ "If you sleep with dogs you'll awake with fleas". Here the meaning is the same (Bad habits rub off) but the Italian form was much more fitting with House so I decided to keep that, even if it doesn't exist in English tongue ;)

* * *

 **...**

 **Sooooo... yeah! I decided for twins! And no... I'm not giving House a vasectomy! ;)**


	42. Bugs & Bunny

_What did you say about rabbits, Calianabergen? ;)_

* * *

 _..._

 **Chapter 42 - Bugs & Bunny**

 **...**

* * *

"Spill the beans again, House!" Chase said entering in his boss' office boss exactly in the same way that a few weeks ago.

Cuddy had begun her fifth month and her pregnancy didn't go unnoticed anymore. When she was pregnant with Grace she had managed to hide her baby bump much longer, but at her third pregnancy and moreover _with twins_ she had had to resign herself to that definitely earlier.

"I can't" he replied looking at Chase and then again down at what he was reading.

"C'mon!" He said with a look somewhere between exasperation and pleading.

"I can't because I don't know it" House said, still looking at Chase "As far as I know they both have only _44 chromosomes_ instead of 46" He said meeting Chase's quizzical look "She doesn't want to know the sex of the babies, at least for now... and Dr. Montgomery is a dear friend of her... during the last ultrasound she skillfully avoided to show me any _compromising_ image" he said still looking at him "So... I know what you know" he added, holding up a hand and watching Chase as he shook his head and let out a laugh.

"How much do you bet?" He asked laughingly, pulling out a crumpled paper from his pocket.

House stole it away from his hands and looked up at him.

"What? Did you bet $ 500 on other 2 girls?" He asked, widening his eyes and looking at Chase as he slightly shrugged his shoulders and let out a laugh.

...

* * *

 _One month earlier_

 _..._

"When are you going back to California, Addison?" House asked sarcastically, looking into her eyes "The two of you are dangerous together" he said, turning his head to look at Cuddy, sitting next to him, and then looking at Addison again as she sat on the other side of the desk.

Addison held his gaze, holding back a smile as she looked at Lisa and then at him, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

"Sorry" she said, smiling " _superior_ orders" she said letting out a laugh as she looked at Lisa again.

"Superior? I did half of the work!" He said, staring at her.

"Yeah..." Addison said "... _maybe_..." she added, biting her lip with a slightly evil look as she tried not to smile, resting her chin on her palm, at House's expression at that _maybe._

"I'm sorry, House" she continued, shrugging her shoulders slightly again "We'll talk about this when you're the one to have nausea, swollen ankles, and that in a few months will have at least an excess of 35 lb" she said, looking into his eyes "Until then... she's the one who decides" she added, laughing, looking back at Cuddy.

House looked at her with an annoyed look before going back to look at the papers in front of him. Images of chromosomes and genetic sequences. The results of the CVS.

He watched the writing on both those two papers. _Normal karyotype._

"From what I see it's not _normal_ at all" he said in a serious tone, looking at those two words and then looking up at Addison. With a serious look.

She looked at him quizzically and Cuddy suddenly turned her head toward him, her eyes widening.

"What?" Addison said, looking at him and reaching for those papers, looking again at those images "There are no translocations or deletions... nothing... They're perfectly normal, House" she repeated watching him and then the worried expression on her friend's face.

"So... are _44_ chromosomes normal in your opinion?" He said watching Addison as she rolled her eyes and shook her head "Sure, unless they're _RABBITS_!" He added, wincing as Cuddy slapped his arm.

"Shit, Greg... you almost gave me a heart attack!" She said looking at him as he rubbed his shoulder, still looking at those images from which two chromosomes had been meticulously taken off. The two _sex_ chromosomes. _Taken off... with scissors._

"Don't worry. The other two are here" she said handing two envelopes to Cuddy "When _she_ decides you'll just need a bit of adhesive tape" she said with a wink.

She looked at them as they stood up and greeted Cuddy with a hug, then approaching House."Do you want a clue?" She whispered with a slightly evil look.

House looked at her quizzically. Obviously there was no way he was going to give her the satisfaction to hear a 'yes' from his lips, but continued to stare at her as she put a hand on his arm, looking down at her hand and then again up at her.

"They both have an X chromosome" she said, looking as he rolled his eyes at her.

"You're too kind" he whispered as she laughed "You're really a good friend" he added, staring at her.

"I am" she replied, looking into his eyes " _Hers_ " she added, looking at Cuddy and then again at him as he rolled his eyes again.

...

* * *

House walked into the cafeteria and looked at the watch on his wrist, then looking for Cuddy with his eyes. She was waiting her turn in line for lunch, facing away from him. Looking at her from behind she didn't look pregnant at all, although she had started her fifth month. He approached her, obviously bypassing the queue, and setting his tray beside hers, earning at least a couple of dirty looks from the two doctors who were already lined up next to Cuddy.

" _Special Access_ " he said with a mischievous grin, emphasizing the word _'access'_ with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the doctor on his right.

Cuddy didn't get perturbed, merely closing her eyes for half a second and running her tongue on her lips, still looking at her tray, and not at House. But she couldn't suppress a smile as soon as he whispered in her ear that _"...a very special one."_

House took a couple of sandwiches and put them on his tray before watching her tray. Her usual salad and a small loaf of whole grain breads.

He met Cuddy's gaze as she added an apple to her tray and smiled slightly at him, but the look on her face immediately changed as soon as he took that apple from her hand and put it back in the basket.

"House!" She said with a quizzical look as he put a piece of chocolate cake on her tray in place of the apple and then added a piece of cake at his own tray.

"Leave it where it is!" He said looking at the piece of cake and then at her as she rolled her eyes, however taking again even _her_ apple from the basket.

She moved the chair and sat down resting both her hand on her belly and looking at House as he sat down in front of her.

"Am I not _big_ enough?" She said, looking at him and then at the piece of cake on her tray.

"What? Did you miss one lesson of your _by-correspondence degree_?" he asked watching at her with a look somewhere between bored and annoyed "You're pregnant." He added, looking at her as she shook her head slightly.

Cuddy rolled her eyes but smiled as she took a forkful of her salad.

"Do you know that _the two of them_ are really convincing themselves to be _rabbits_ , don't you?" He said, looking at her belly and then at her as she brought to her mouth that forkful of salad.

"I don't eat only vegetables..." she said, looking serious at him "But ... right now I really can't eat that chocolate cake, Greg" she added, holding his gaze.

"Great!" He said taking the piece of cake from her tray and placing it on his "Because that was for me!" He added before instead putting on her tray the piece of cake that was on his "This is the one for _Bugs & Bunny_" ... he said looking at her as she watched that piece of cake and a laugh escaped from her lips.

" _Carrots cake_?" She said seriously, but holding back a smile, slightly shaking her head and running her tongue on her lips, watching again that piece of cake and then him.

She looked at him as he nodded conspicuously, and she couldn't help but smile.

...

* * *

Cuddy walked out of the bathroom wrapped only in a white towel. Her wet hair fell in waves over her shoulders.

"I thought you was going to join me and keep me some _company_ " she said with a mischievous look meeting his gaze.

House was lying athwart on the bed, wearing only his boxers. On his back, his legs on Cuddy's side of the bed and his head on his side... and he watched at the ceiling. He didn't change his position, but simply tilted his head back as she approached him. From that position he saw her turned upside-down, with a preferential view of her legs and her hips as she wiped her face and neck with another towel.

He reached out to her and she took his hand, bending over to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"You know what else _rabbits_ are famous for, Cuddy?" He said with a mischievous look, raising an eyebrow as he drew her closer to him, so that he was practically with his head between her legs.

Cuddy didn't answered, just staying bent over him, with her arms to the sides of his head and her hands on the mattress, still brushing his lips with hers.

His tongue found hers and Cuddy couldn't help but smile. She had some difficulty to kiss him, as she watched his chin instead of his eyes. And she smiled more as soon as his hands found the towel that was wrapped around her body and dropped it to the ground.

"You're still completely wet" he said, laughing, slightly biting her lip as his hands caressed the wet skin of her thighs and then of her buttocks.

Cuddy slightly lifted her head smiling and looking into his eyes.

"I don't remember you complaining about feeling me... _wet_ " she whispered with a mischievous look then looking at his mouth.

House kissed her, as those words sent him a shiver in his groin. He took her arms drawing her closer to himself and making her lean on top of him, as he moved his head between her legs.

"Greg ..." she laughed, trying to change position as he held her tightly, his hands on her butt.

The feeling of his mouth on her most intimate part changed the expression on her face as she closed her eyes, biting her lip, and a moan of pleasure escaped from her lips. A moan and then another... while her breathing became labored and she couldn't help but get lost in the pleasure he gave her.

She placed better her own hands on the mattress and lowered his boxers, unable to peel them off completely but freeing his erection. She hadn't gain a lot of weight, but all the same it was difficult to bend over him as her five-months belly was pressed against his chest ... and even more it was difficult for her _to think_ while her legs trembled because of how his tongue continued to excite her.

She bent over him taking his erection with one hand before that her mouth gave him the same pleasure he was giving her. It wasn't one of her favorite positions. Or rather... she liked it... but the pleasure he gave her made more difficult for her to focus on his pleasure. House could clearly hear her moan as she continued to suck him and he had the same difficulty she had, as that feeling made him gasp.

"Oh m..." she moaned, stopping for a moment without moving her mouth from him as her orgasm overwhelmed her in strong waves of pleasure.

The vibration of her mouth as she moaned on him still exciting him, had on him the effect of a detonator and he couldn't restrain himself anymore. His tongue on her stopped, replaced in turn by a hoarse moan as he came in her mouth.

"God, Lisa ..." he moaned still stroking her back as she slowly sucked him one last time, and then raised her head, moving to his side.

"Oh God..." she laughed as she hugged him putting an arm around his neck and face and looking for his mouth "I now need another shower" she said, smiling, kissing him on the lips again.

House looked at her as she stood up and put on one of his T-shirts, then taking a pair of panties from the drawer. He sat on the bed as he watched her. His bare feet on the floor and his elbows resting on his knees

Cuddy smiled as she walked back toward him, standing between his knees and putting her arms around his neck. He kissed her belly, which was exactly in front of his face, and put his hands on her hips and she couldn't suppress a smile and stroked the short hair on his nape.

"They really jump like rabbits" he said, laughing lifting his head to look at her as he could clearly feel the small kicks inside her "I'm beginning to be worried, Cuddy!" He added as she slapped his shoulder.

"Stop calling them like that!" She said, glaring at him.

"And how should I call them?" He said looking at her with the same look, but letting out a laugh "6 and 9?" He asked with a slightly evil look.

He couldn't help but laugh at the expression on her face as she opened her mouth and slapped him on the shoulder at the same time. Again. But he didn't give her time to argue as he drew her closer and found her lips, seeing her smiling again.

"I love you" she whispered on his lips taking his face with both hands.

"I love _you_ " he replied on hers still caressing her belly "... all the three of you..."


	43. Blood and ghosts - Part 1

**Chapter 43 - Blood and ghosts**

 **...**

* * *

 _Pain... blood ..._

 _Her body collapsing in his arms ..._

 _Her blood on him ..._

 _His own voice calling her name..._

 _... Lisa ..._

...

House suddenly opened his eyes, inhaling deeply and looking for air as if he couldn't breathe and his heart had skipped a beat. He sat up running a hand over his face and through his hair while the other one rubbed his thigh, tilting his head back and leaning it against the headboard. He was sweating and his leg ached as it didn't in a long time. He looked around in the darkness of the room, lit only slightly from the little light coming through the slightly open curtain, and took the bottle of pills from his bedside, dry-swallowing three in one shoot and closing his eyes again as he rubbed his leg and his heart continued to hammer in his chest. The darkness and the silence of the room exacerbated the images and sounds that kept spinning wildly in his mind. It wasn't real... but his mind had made it real... real like what he felt now...

He opened his eyes again trying to erase those images from his mind and took a deep breath, then looking at Cuddy, quietly asleep beside him. Nothing of what he had _lived_ in that dream was real... She slept on her side, facing him. An arm under her head and the other one hidden under the pillow. A few days and she would begin her sixth month. Twenty-one weeks of pregnancy. _Twenty-one..._

He watched her as she slept. Her relaxed features and quiet breathing... He moved a strand of hair from her face, just slightly brushing her cheek, as if he wanted to be really sure that she was real, and continued to look at her for a few seconds. He inhaled deeply again as his bare feet touched the floor, rubbing his leg again while the pain spread from his thigh to his toe like an electric shock.

"Greg..."

He turned toward her meeting only the glare of her eyes in the dark.

"I'm just go to get a glass of water..." he whispered reaching out to stroke her arm "Go back to sleep..." he added, still caressing her before moving that same hand from her, using it as a support to try to get out of bed. He stood with difficulty, trying not to put weight on his foot, limping as he found his cane. He closed the door as he left the room. The sound of his cane on the floor was the only sound to break the silence of that night and he tried not to make noise as he passed near the room of the girls. Waking them up was the last thing he needed right now.

He didn't turned on the light so that the only light that lit the room was the one coming through the living room glass wall. It was one of the things he had liked more the first time he had seen that house... the large glass window facing the garden on the back and the old sugar maple tree in the center of the garden, almost as if those architects had built the house around that old tree. The darkness allowed him to see now only the dark shape of it as he sat in the armchair in front of the glass wall. He couldn't see the toys of his daughters under that tree... but he knew they were there... abandoned at random among the red and yellow leaves fallen on the roots.

What he had was a lot more than he had ever hoped to have. A family. _His_ family. He had always thought of not being a fatherly guy... until his daughters had literally broke up that belief in a thousand little pieces. And now he could never live without them. He could no longer imagine a life without them. Without Lisa. He had told her many times that she was his Vicodin. He was wrong. She was much more than Vicodin. He couldn't imagine a life without her. He didn't even want to. At the very thought he could barely breathe. It was just a dream... but the feeling of emptiness he was still feeling was _real_...

He sat there, motionless in the silence of the house, looking beyond that glass window although he could only see dark shapes in the darkness. It was still at least three or four hours to dawn, and the only lights to light the night were those of the streetlights.

The touch of Cuddy's hand on his shoulder awakened him from his thoughts.

"Hey... are you okay?" She asked softly, stroking his shoulder and just moving a little her hand down to stroke his chest.

House didn't answer, looking for her hand on his shoulder and holding it in his, before drawing her gently to himself, making her sit down on his left leg. His left arm around her waist, his right hand resting on her belly. Her arm around his neck, her head leaning against his.

Neither of them spoke. His gaze fixed on his own hand that caressed her belly gently with his thumb.

"Do you want to talk?" She whispered without moving, after a few minutes.

House shook his head, whispering a barely audible _'no'_. He heard her sigh and kissed his temple, continuing to caress her. His way to tell her that he just wanted to be like that, embracing her, that he didn't want to talk but just let that the thoughts spinning in his head could disappear slowly in that embrace. His left arm moved between her shoulders holding her closer to himself and she rested her head in the crook of his neck as he kissed her hair. She wanted to say something, but she knew that it wasn't words what he needed. She slowly stroked his nape moving her fingers through his hair and on his neck, feeling him relax to her touch.

"I love you" he whispered on her hair. Only a whisper... but those three words sent a shiver down her spine.

It wasn't an _'I love you'_ said in a moment of passion, making love... it was more... it was something deeper... It was love... vulnerability... fragility... all together...

"Tell me what's wrong..." she whispered as she moved on his shoulder the hand that was on her own belly, hugging him tighter.

House again didn't answer. She heard him inhale and exhale slowly on her hair, but no other sound came from his lips. The only sound in the room was the one of his hands caressing her back and stomach through her pajama fabric.

She let him to continue to caress her. Actually she didn't need him to tell her what was wrong. Or what unconsciously frightened him. Consciously and rationally he was the one who reassured her all the time, but she knew that there were times when his irrational side took over, awakening his fears, his weakness and fragility. His silence wasn't a way to hide from her... simply he didn't want to share with her his anguish... he didn't want his anguish to become hers... _adding_ his anxiety to hers... but she didn't need to ask what was what was anguishing him... the way he held her close to himself and the way in which he stroked her were more than an answer...

"I'm here" she whispered as if reading his thoughts, stroking his stubble with her hand as he pressed his lips again on her hair.

House moved on her face the hand that was on her belly and stroked her cheek with his thumb, gently lifting her face and brushing her lips. She couldn't see well his features in the dark, but she knew he was watching her. They both closed their eyes as they savored just the feeling of that touch. Lips on lips. Nothing else... A simple contact that after years could still make them both hold their breath. Cuddy didn't move, just continuing to stroke the back of his neck as his lips lingered on her, in a sweet caress. His tongue lightly brushed against hers and a shiver ran down the spine of them both. Their tongues sought each other more, deepening the kiss. Slow and deep. The silence of the room broken only by the sound of their breathing. House stroked her cheek with his thumb, brushing her lips again and leaning his forehead on hers.

"Let's go back to bed..." he whispered, lightly kissing her on the lips again.

Cuddy nodded and stood up, reaching out for his hand. Neither of them spoke as they walked down the hallway to their bedroom. They slipped under the covers and looked at each other. Both on their side with an arm under the head... facing each other. Her hand stroked his arm, his was on her hip.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about this?" She whispered, breaking the silence of the room again, still looking at him despite the dim light.

House didn't answer and just nodded, still looking at her. He cupped her face with one hand and stroked it with his thumb without breaking away from her eyes. He couldn't. It wasn't something he could share with her...

"It's nothing, Lisa... I'm fine" he whispered "... and you need to sleep..." he added, moving his hand to gently stroke her belly.

Cuddy stroked in turn his stubble, brushing his lips with her thumb and then with her own lips in another silent _'I'm here'_ , before turning, resting her back against his chest, taking his arm and wrapping it around her body. House savored the warmth of her body close to his, trying to relax at that contact and letting go quietly to sleep.

...

* * *

He had slept at most a few hours that night... but still a troubled sleep. It was almost never the first to wake up in the morning. He kept his eyes closed, hoping for sleep to come again at least for a few more minutes, but in vain... He opened his eyes reluctantly, looking around. Cuddy was still asleep, facing him but not touching him. Another thing that rarely happened. He touched her arm, massaging it slowly, but she didn't moved, not even an inch.

"Time to wake up, sleeping beauty" he said into her ear.

Cuddy put a hand over her eyes and a grimace of disappointment appeared on her face.

"Please... tell me it's Sunday" she muttered without opening her eyes.

House smiled still looking at her.

"It's Sunday" he said flatly, holding back a smile and looking at her as she turned on her back still keeping her hands over her eyes, and sighed.

"Not convincing" she said, smiling gently, shaking her head and moving her hands from her face, meeting his gaze.

"Because it's Thursday" he said, looking into her eyes, smiling and bending down to kiss her lightly on the lips watching her as she closed her eyes again and nodded, clinging to him.

"I'm not sure I can survive 'til the end of this week" she said against his chest as he put an arm around her shoulders and she kept her head buried in his chest.

House rubbed her back through the pajama fabric.

"That's where _my_ pajamas shirt was" he whispered feeling her smile on his skin. "Don't laugh" he whispered again, smiling in turn and moving a hand on his butt, giving her a small smack "I'll know who to thank for my cold" he added.

Cuddy lifted her head to look at him.

"My poor baby" she said in the same tone she generally used with Mia or Grace or Rachel, brushing his lips with her tongue.

"Don't tease me, Cuddy" he said with a mischievous look, looking into her eyes and fidgeting with her pajama buttons, unbuttoning one of them and then caressing her neck with his hand.

Cuddy looked back at him and teased again his lips with her tongue.

"Would you like having to thank me... for something else than a cold, _House_?" She whispered on his mouth, feeling him smiling at those words, as his hand slip beneath the pajamas to caress her breasts.

House found her mouth and kissed her deeply, sinking his hands in her hair, letting that to be his answer to her question.

She could feel his erection despite the layers of fabric that still was between them. She clung closer to him, as much as her belly allowed her, throwing her leg around his, as he gently lowered her panties, caressing her butt more.

They both stopped at the same time at the _click_ of the door opening and they looked into each other's eyes, leaning their forehead against each other while a figure bounced on the bed. Cuddy smiled and stroked his stubble, kissing him lightly on the lips as he rolled his eyes.

"I'M AWAKE!" Rachel said smiling _ear to ear_ and slipping under the covers next to her mother.

"We noticed!" House replied dryly, but unable then to suppress a smile in front of her funny and pretty face.

Cuddy stroked her arm and kissed her hair before sitting up on the bed. House watched her as she suddenly put her hand on her stomach holding her breath for a brief moment, and sat up in turn placing a hand on hers.

"Hey..." he asked not hiding the apprehension in his voice "You okay?"

Cuddy nodded and the smile on her face calmed him immediately.

"Yes" she answered moving a little his hand on her belly "But the other two here are awake too" she said meeting his gaze and watching him as he smiled as a little kick hit the palm of his hand.

"Both of them?" House asked looking into her eyes.

He looked at her as she nodded and put even his other hand on her belly.

"Unless one of them has got four legs..." she said with a smile looking at House.

"I hope that at least one of them got... _three_..." he whispered in her ear and looking into her eyes, raising an eyebrow as she rolled her eyes.

Her serious gaze turned into a smile as she watched him taking Rachel's little hand and rest it on her belly... and she couldn't help but bit her lip slightly. He made that even when she was pregnant with Jess... and it hadn't been easy then to explain to a five-years-old that she would never played with her brother.

"I think they're hungry" Rachel said, looking at her mother with a serious look as Cuddy couldn't avoid smiling.

"Really?" She asked.

Rachel nodded.

"For milk and chocolate pancakes" she added looking at House with the same serious look.

"Whoa!" House said laughing "Do you want to become a soothsayer when you grow up?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No" she replied "A doctor!" She said with another ear-to-ear smile "Like Mommy!" She pointed out.

House bit his lip, holding back a laugh.

"Like... _Mommy_?" He asked again, raising an eyebrow "Are you sure?" He added, while Cuddy glare at him, foreseeing his next joke.

Rachel nodded dramatically.

"Not like _Daddy_?" He asked, looking into her eyes.

Rachel laughed, shaking her head vigorously.

"No, silly!" She replied still laughing "I don't want to be a _boy doctor_. I want to be a _girl doctor_ , like Mommy" she added, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

House laughed, ruffling her hair and looking at her as she jumped out of bed to go to the kitchen, waiting for breakfast. He leaned over Cuddy and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Fortunately" He whispered on her mouth "I thought she wanted to _assign parking spaces_ as Mommy instead of saving lives like Daddy" he added with a slightly devilish look, kissing her again on the lips as he obviously earned a slap on his arm.

...

* * *

 _No, she couldn't survive 'til Sunday..._ She rubbed her neck as she put on her white coat and walked out of her office toward the clinic.

"Who can no longer button her coat shouldn't be here" House said from behind her, reaching for another folder above her shoulder and making her smile.

She didn't look back as she took in turn a folder from the pile on the desk.

"That's why Dr. Becker is not here today then" she said, turning just her head to look at him with the hint of a smile.

"Because there are no more X for his white coat?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Er... yeah...because of that ..." she said, turning to face him and placing a hand on his arm "And because he has a flu" she added with a smile "And guess what? I _won_ his Clinic hours" she said, stroking his arm with her thumb.

"Do not overdo" he said seriously, looking into her eyes.

Cuddy nodded and smiled again.

"And you don't worry. I'm not going to run a marathon" she said, smiling, lightly stroking his arm with her thumb before leaving.

House watched her as she called a patient and entered with him in the room, smiling at him again before closing the door.

...

* * *

"I'm Dr. Cuddy" she said sitting down on the stool and opening the folder, looking at the two women who had just walked into the room.

One in her mid-thirties, the other one at least ten years older.

"My sister, Maria, doesn't speak English. She's been in the US for less than a month" the older one said "She has a bad stomachache. She was fine until a few hours ago..." she added, looking at Cuddy and then at her sister who held her stomach with one hand.

Thirty-eight years old. Italian. Significantly overweight... well...actually frankly obese... No past or recent health problem. No regular medication. Apparently a thirty-eight-years-old woman with no particular health problems... apart from her many extra pounds...

"What did she eat for lunch?" She asked after having taken her patient's blood pressure, then looking at the elder one for a translation.

 _Definitely hypertensive. 160/110 mmHg._

 _What did she eat for lunch? ..._ She could have avoid that question... maybe pregnancy made her sense of smell more sensitive, or perhaps her observation skill began to resemble her husband's one... but that woman smelled so much of fried chicken that that question was more than a rhetorical question.

"Fried chicken" Her sister replied.

Cuddy nodded slightly. _Of course. Fried chicken._

"Two servings" She added "And French fries. And... a coke and a double chocolate milkshake..."

Cuddy looked into her eyes and nodded slightly again. _Sure. Double._

 _Two servings of fried chicken, French fries, a coke and double chocolate milkshake... and are you wonder why she has stomach pain?_ She thought trying to avoid her thought from seeping in through her eyes.

"It's probably just an indigestion" she said looking at the woman who sat on the examination bed, gesturing her to lie down, and waiting for her sister to translate her words.

The expression on her face changed as soon as she placed a hand on her abdomen. She had epigastric pain... in her stomach pit... but something was wrong... She was definitely overweight... but that... that wasn't just overweight...

"Maria... are you... er... sei... incinta?" She asked, staring at her, in those few italian words she knew just because of the multilingual poster in Addison's waiting room.

"No" The elder sister immediately replied in her place "She's not pregnant"

Cuddy looked up at her and then again at Maria. She shook her head. Unconvincingly.

"...il mio stomaco..." she whispered with difficulty, closing her eyes.

 _Did that mean that she wasn't pregnant and that she only had pain in her stomach? Or that she was there because of that stomach pain, and that everything else, including being pregnant, wasn't important in that moment?_ ... Cuddy looked at her, shaking her head slightly as she took the ultrasound machine from the corner behind her...

"She can't be pregnant... " the elder sister said looking at her.

Cuddy looked at her as she put some gel on her patient's stomach which a gaze that could keep up with one of her husband's _'what?-Is-she- a-virgin?'_ gaze.

"She can't be pregnant... she would have told me..." she said again.

 _Everybody lies..._ And they both knew that as soon as that image appeared on the screen.

"She can .." Cuddy said watching that image "At least in her sixth month, perhaps even seventh... twenty-six maybe twenty-seven weeks..." she added, shaking her head and biting her lip.

It wasn't up to her to judge her... she didn't know why that woman had tried to hide her pregnancy to everyone, including her sister... but she had no time to satisfy that curiosity... what she knew was that right now she hadn't only a patient in danger... she had _two_...

Her mind worked quickly that information trying to prevent her irrational part to prevail and to do only and exclusively her work.

A twenty-six-weeks fetus, maybe twenty-seven. Its chances of survival out of its mother's body was more or less 70 percent. It would rise to 90% in a couple of weeks... but its mother didn't have two weeks... and not even it... Its heart rate would have to be at least 140 bpm... and it was barely 98... and that meant just one thing... fetal distress ...

There was no time...

"This... this isn't an indigestion" she said, inhaling and exhaling deeply before looking at them both with a serious look "It's preeclampsia..."

The look on the face of Maria's sister was clearly that of someone who had never heard that word before...

"It's a pregnancy disease ..." she said still looking at the elder sister so that she could translate to Maria "... a very serious one ... they could both die if we don't make anything" she continued "The only way to save their life is to terminate the pregnancy. She needs an emergency C-section" she said looking at the woman standing in front of her, petrified by those words.

"S-save... her life?" She repeated watching Cuddy "How ... how can she be dying? ... She just... she just has stomach pain..." she said.

"I'm sorry" Cuddy said "I'll answer all your questions... but not now..." she added, touching her arm.

Cuddy watched her as she looked at the hand resting on her arm and then again up into her eyes, unable to say anything. To her... and not even to her sister. She looked at Maria. She didn't speak Italian. She could barely order a pizza at Roberto's... and thank him with a _'grazie'_ , when he called her _'bella signora'_... The few words she knew weren't enough to tell her what was happening. And she had no time...

"... Maria, look at me, please... per favore..." She said looking at Maria as she at least looked at her "You need a..."

 _Shit! What the hell is the Italian for C-section?_ _Er... caesarean section... Right! All medical terms were from Latin or Ancient Greek... and 'caesarean' was from Caesar, a Rome Emperor in... well... at least two millenniums ago... So? Cesare? Cesareo?_

"Tu...er... you need a cesareo d'urgenza." She said in a mix of English and something that sounded like Italian "Capito?"

Maria didn't move. She continued to look at her but she didn't answer. She closed her eyes, turning her head, as if those words hadn't had the slightest effect on her.

 _Didn't she care? Dying? Or... risking to lose that baby?_ She still looked at her for a while before heading towards the door... in any case it wasn't up to her judging her... She had to call the operating room and the NICU... and she had to do that right now.

She had barely time to warn the nurse before being called by a voice screaming her name.

Loss of consciousness. Convulsion.

"A crash cart!" She yelled at the nurse through the open door.

 _C'mon! Come on! Please...don't!_ She thought as she checked her vital signs.

 _Crackling throughout the lung area. Pulmonary edema._

"I need help!" She said removing the stethoscope from her ears and looking at the nurse as she took an Ambu bag from the crash cart and handed it to her "Call House... and... one of the anesthesiologists!".

"NOW!" She added, looking at the nurse as she began the mechanical ventilation.

House came after a few minutes, but to her it seemed like hours. She met his gaze as he walked into the room, not stopping the RCP. Her patient has been in cardiac arrest for some minutes.

House looked at the empty vials of epinephrine on the bed and then at the woman. He checked her carotid pulse. No pulse.

"WHERE THE HELL IS THE ANESTHESIOLOGIST?" Cuddy shouted looking at the nurse that appeared behind House.

"Lisa... stop! You can't do anything else for her" he said, looking at her hands, still compressing that woman's sternum.

The gaze she gave him, froze him.

"She's pregnant" she said, looking straight into his eyes.

She felt his hand on her arm as he suddenly moved her to one side, taking her place in the cardiopulmonary resuscitation as she stood near him, just watching him.

They still had a patient who could be saved.

...

* * *

House watched her, meeting her gaze as soon as he opened the door of her office. She sat on the couch, her feet on the coffee table and one hand resting on her stomach.

"It's a boy. 1 pound 12. He'll be fine..." he said, referring to the baby and watching her as she removed her feet from the coffee table "... he's lucky... his aunt will take care of him..." he said, looking as she nodded and he sat down beside her.

"You saved his life" he said placing a hand on her knee.

"Not to his mother..." she whispered without looking up at him.

House rubbed his knee.

"You couldn't do anything else..." he said, continuing to caress her knee and looking at her as she nodded looking at a fixed point in front of her.

"If only she had told me earlier that she was pregnant... maybe..." she sighed, shaking her head slightly.

"How did you get it?" He asked.

Cuddy smiled a bitter smile, slightly shaking her head again and resting her hand again on her stomach.

"I got it as soon as I placed a hand on her belly..." she said, looking at him and then at her own hand on her belly. She took House's hand and placed it in turn on her belly before resting her head on his shoulder.

House put an arm around her shoulders, kissing her hair.

"So... you can't just _assign parking spaces_ , Dr. Cuddy" he said, kissed her temple and stroking her belly, making her smile as he held her closer to him.

...

* * *

House closed the fridge door and looked at her as she rubbed her back. He put his hands on her hips, bending slightly to kiss her neck from behind.

"Are you killing the Halloween pumpkin?" He asked, watching her as she tried to chop that pumpkin.

"No" she laughed, stroking his stubble with her hand "That one is for Halloween" she said, pointing to the pumpkin on the table. "I promised Rachel a pumpkin pie for the school"

"Ah right ... so are you trying to kill the teachers then?" He laughed, earning a slap on the hand while he kissed her neck again.

He massaged her back.

"If you're tired, you should lie down..." he said kissing her temple as she nodded "It was a very hard day"

"I'm almost done..." she said, turning her head to look at him and then watching again the pumpkin on the cutting board "Go playing with the girls. I just put this in the oven"

"Ok" he said kissing her neck again "But I don't know if it will be room enough on the couch for this _transatlantic_ " he added giving her bottom a little smack as she glared at him.

Cuddy watched the pumpkin in front of her. She just had to chop it in four large pieces and place them into the oven.

"Can I help you, Mom?" Rachel asked skipping around her.

"No, Honey" she replied "But when this is ready you'll help me to stir the dough, ok?" She said as she nodded conspicuously with a big smile.

She turned back to her pumpkin before being distracted again by a Rachel's exclamation which made her give a start as her daughter almost made fall the flour pack to the ground. She quickly turned her head toward her, watching her as she caught the package and a cloud of flour surrounded her.

Pain suddenly made her turn her head toward the kitchen counter, as she bowed her head, holding her breath, and leaned against the counter with a hand.

She exhaled slowly as her mind focused only on that pain...

She leaned against the counter with her palms and closed her eyes, trying to inhale deeply.

"Rachel, call Dad..." she whispered as her head began to spin.

That was the last thing she was aware of...

Pain... blood... bright lights in front of her eyes... muffled sounds...

She could barely feel the touch of his hands on her waist... maybe his voice calling her name...

 _... Lisa ..._

Then... nothing ...


	44. Blood and ghosts - Part 2

**Chapter 44 - Blood and ghosts - Part 2**

 **...**

* * *

 _"Rachel, call Dad" she whispered as her head began to spin._

 _That was the last thing she was aware of..._

 _Pain... blood... bright lights in front of her eyes... muffled sounds..._

 _She could barely feel the touch of his hands on her waist... maybe his voice calling her name..._

 _... Lisa ..._

 _Then... nothing ..._

...

And then again muffled sounds... and pain...

His voice... her own name... Lisa...

She instinctively put a hand on her stomach as she opened her eyes and looked around blankly, for a moment not aware of where she was and what had happened...

She closed her eyes inhaling deeply and then exhaling slowly.

"Hey... it's all right" House's voice said as she could feel his hand on her forehead "It's nothing... just breathe"

She didn't open her eyes, breathing in and out slowly before open them again, meeting the blue of his.

"It hurts..." she whispered looking into his eyes before looking at her own hand, in House's one and wrapped in his shirt.

"Can you move your fingers?" He asked looking at her and then at her right hand.

She nodded, moving her fingers at the same time.

"It's a bad cut, you need stitches" he said, looking at her wound and beginning to medicate her.

She closed her eyes again as he did so, continuing to massage her belly with her other hand.

She felt his hand on hers as he repeated that gesture with her, and she smiled slightly, just enjoying that caress.

"I take back what I said, Cuddy!" He laughed "You're a bad doctor. Not even a freshman passes out for such a wound" He said, laughing and teasing her.

"Yeah..." she said as he bent to kiss her "Or maybe it was my plan to have the couch all for myself" she said, looking as he shook her head and smiled slightly.

"Next time..." he said on her lips "Just ask me... without giving me a heart attack" he said, smiling, kissing her again.

...

* * *

A few days to Halloween.

If anyone had told him he would have loved that annual routine he wouldn't have believed it. Holidays were always the worst time of year for him. It didn't matter if it was the 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas... he had always hated them indiscriminately. Days of the year in which everyone must be necessarily happy. The worst days for those who are alone. But he had had to change idea. Now, not only he loved those days of the year... worse... he loved even the days before those...

Rachel and Grace had filled the house of bats and pumpkins drawings, and plastic cups covered with white cloths were hung here and there like many little ghosts.

"Dad..." Rachel said skipping around him "It must be... a very very very monstrous Jake-o-lantern" she said gesturing with both arms and bending her head to one side, looking at the pumpkin in House's hands and then to her sister.

"Vewwi vewwi" Grace repeated in her own way.

House laughed as he put the marker in Rachel's hand letting her draw two very bad big eyes and a huge mouth with huge teeth.

"Your Jake will give me white hair by fear, Rach!" He said ruffling her hair as he took a knife to carve the pumpkin.

"You already have white hair, Daddy" she said looking at him with a serious look as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"It's not true" he said giving her a mock glare and watching her as she laughed.

"Yes, that's true" she said, taking his head in both hands, forcing him to bow it "Look... one ... two ... three ..." she said counting his white hair one by one.

"And here too" She said holding his head with both hands and looking at his stubble, before giving him a little kiss on the lips.

House laughed as Cuddy walked into the kitchen, holding Mia. Her little arms wrapped around Cuddy's neck and her head hidden against her neck.

"Those are the ones that your mother gave me" he said, laughing, while Cuddy smiled and shook her head, then bending over to kiss him on the cheek.

...

* * *

Cuddy looked at House as she approached him, resting her left hand on his shoulder and stoking him lightly. He sat on the same armchair of a few nights before, but luckily his mood was not the same as that night.

Rachel played with Grace on the carpet. Mia sat in her rocking chair in front of House. She was smiling and rubbing her eyes with both hands, while House rocked her chair by moving it rhythmically with his foot, his eyes focused on the latest issue of _Thorax_. His right leg stretched in front of him, resting on the coffee table.

"Greg..." she said unable not to smile "You'll give her seasick" she said, placing her hand on his knee.

House looked up at her and smiled.

"Mommy is killjoy, Mia" he said, looking at his daughter "We were having fun here, right?" He said, looking at Mia, who smiled repeating a sort of _da-da-da_ , and then giving Cuddy a mock glare.

Cuddy held his gaze, holding back a smile.

"It won't be so funny when she threw up her dinner" she said, tapping her hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes.

"Yeah" he said, smiling "convincing argumentation" he said, stopping his foot and taking instead her hand, pulling her closer to him and between his legs.

"How's your hand?" He asked taking her right hand, still bandaged, and bringing it near his mouth.

"A bit better" she said, smiling "Luckily one of us is a real doctor" she said with a laugh.

"Yeah" he said, looking at her and raising an eyebrow.

He watched her as she looked into his eyes, smiling but shaking her head.

"She called him _Gregorio_... did you hear?" She asked still looking at him, referring to that baby born a few days before "Like the sexy blue-eyed doctor who saved his life" she said, bending over him and smiling.

House rolled his eyes.

"You are _the sexy blue-eyed doctor who saved his life_ " he said, kissing her lightly on the lips with a mischievous look "... and... couldn't she think of anything better for that poor baby?" He added, staring at her.

Cuddy smiled.

" _Lisa_ wasn't suitable for a boy" she said, smiling "... and ... his mother hadn't thought about a name for him..." she said as a shadow clouded her eyes at that thought. Actually, she hadn't wanted to think about _her bunnies'_ names yet.

House placed his hands on her hips and kissed her belly while she stroked the hair on his nape. They both had tried to ignore it, but that they wanted to or not, none of them had been able to avoid thinking repeatedly to Jess in the last week. And it had been not a coincidence that she had never walked into House's office in that same last week. Consciously or unconsciously. Superstitious or not. Now that instead she had started her sixth month, although only since a few days, they both felt as if they had already passed a milestone.

"Sophie" He said on her belly, caressing her with his thumb.

"Er... what?" Cuddy said stopping the hand that stroked his hair, meeting his gaze as he lifted his head.

"Didn't you really think of calling them _Bugs and Bunny_ , did you? He said, laughing.

Cuddy couldn't help but smile.

"Sophie..." she repeated, nodding and stroking his neck again "And ...?"

"And... I don't know..." he said, laughing "I have completely run out of girl names..." he added.

Cuddy nodded again, laughing in turn.

"Yeah..." she said "But what if they're two boys?"

"James?" He asked looking into her eyes.

"And... Wilson" House added still looking into her eyes.

Cuddy let out a laugh.

"Oh God..." she said, shaking her head "You're kidding, right?"

"I'll tell Wilson that you shot his name down" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I haven't shoot his name down" She laughed again, shaking her head, "I shot down your unhealthy idea to call your twins James _and_ Wilson..." she clarified.

She looked at him as he opened his mouth to answer back and silenced him, putting a hand on his mouth.

"I like _James_... But I won't call my son _Wilson_. Period." She said, looking at him seriously.

House laughed, shaking his head.

"Not _Wilson_ like James _Wilson_..." he said, laughing "I mean... _Wilson_ like... my favorite character in _Cast Away_ " he said with a serious look, but holding back a smile.

Cuddy looked at him seriously, running her tongue on her lips and taking a deep breath before speaking again, as when in hospital she answered back to one of his maddening comment.

" _Wilson._.." she said, staring at him and dampening again her lips with her tongue "... it was a _balloon_ , House"

"I know" he laughed, looking into her eyes as a smile appeared on her face too.

"Do you know?" He said on his belly "It would be easier if your mother decide at least to know your sexes" he said again, kissing her belly.

Cuddy stroked his stubble with both hands as she bent to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"May you prepare the girls for bed?" She asked, still stroking his stubble.

"I was rather thinking about... going to bed with their mother" he said, lifting his head to look at her with a mischievous look, moving his hands on her butt.

Cuddy smiled.

"Bring them to bed, _Daddy_ " she said, bending over to slightly kiss him on the lips again "And then you'll sleep with _Mommy_ " she said mischievously biting his lip.

...

* * *

Halloween's night. Night of witches and ghosts. Unfortunately the weather had been perfectly on theme that October 31 and rain and wind had forced children to give up the traditional _"trick or treat"_ along the streets of the neighborhood, and to replace it with some home party. House hated that kind of parties, possibly even more than the hospital's charity galas. Dens of parents who spent their time bragging about their children's _exploits_ as if they were all future Nobel prizes.

' _Behave_... and you'll have your _treat_ ' Cuddy had said him with a mischievous look, with a tone somewhere between the threatening and the tone she would use with Rachel.

Three things he had learned over the years. _ONE_ : It could be very dangerous to upset Cuddy. _TWO_ : it could be very dangerous to upset a pregnant woman. _THREE_ : upsetting _a pregnant Cuddy_ was absolutely dangerous.

So his only consolation was then the glass of _Bloody Mary_ in his hand as he watched Rachel and Grace playing with other children.

 _A vampire. And a smaller vampire._

The glass in one hand, the other one resting on the handle of the empty stroller. He looked at Cuddy as she walked toward him. From the way she had freed herself from the conversation with the three women chatting with her, he could say for certain that she wasn't enthusiastic about that company. Ex _desperate housewives_ recently turned into sparkling divorced women in their forties in search of new emotions.

House looked at her with a smirk running his tongue on his lips.

"So?" He laughed "Are you planning to be the new _Abby McCarthy_?"

Cuddy laughed.

"Why not!" She replied with a mischievous look "But unfortunately... I'm not strong in divorce. What about a Girlfriends' Guide _to a crazy husband and almost five kids_?" she said, smiling, however, putting a hand on his neck and kissing him lightly on the lips, before bending over to put Mia in the stroller .

House couldn't help but smile as he watched _that little bat_ trying to bring one of her tiny foot in her mouth.

He took another sip of his _Bloody Mary_ while Cuddy turned to the buffet to take in turn something to drink. He continued to be surprised at how, looking at her from behind, she hardly looked pregnant. And she was six months pregnant. Skinny jeans. Boots. A black sweater with a V neckline. He liked her in that _casual_ outfit as much as he liked her in the more _formal_ power suit she wore in hospital... well... obviously not as much as he liked the _sexy_ underwear she reserved to him in their bedroom...

If there was one thing he could say about her was that she could always be sexy and elegant at the same time... even with a pair of jeans or yoga pants. And never, not even in her most sexy and daring version, she looked vulgar.

The exact opposite of the woman who had begin to speak to him at that exact moment on the pretext of asking him an advice for a rash. He had looked at her with a look somewhere between annoyed and amused. A woman in her forties wrapped in a black latex costume. A mix of a poor imitation of _Trinity of the Matrix_ , Count Dracula's wife and a sadomasochistic stripper. Black long straight hair tied in a ponytail, too long black nails and bright red lipstick. A D cup squeezed in a corset of at least two sizes small. The only clue that confirmed that she was a _vampire_ costume was the trickle of fake blood dripping from one of the sides of her mouth.

Cuddy watched as that vampire's hand touched House's arm as she continued to tell him about a particularly annoying rash on her buttocks and lady parts. He just looked at her, with a slightly amused look. And she knew that he was actually holding back a joke.

"It's an allergic reaction to... er... _something._.." Cuddy said in place of House, intruding into that conversation and deliberately stressing that _"something."_

House turned his head to look at her, this time with a decidedly amused look.

"... An antihistaminic and a cortisone cream and you'll be fine in a few days" Cuddy said still staring at her "Come to PPTH tomorrow. _I_ 'll give you a prescription" she said, looking at her as she nodded and then walked away, greeting them with a fake smile.

"You should wore a costume like that next year" He said to Cuddy, raising an eyebrow and earning a glare.

"Sure!" She replied wryly, rolling her eyes at him and taking a sip of her _Virgin Mary_.

...

A couple of hours after House opened the front door while Rachel ran in, taking off her jacket and putting on tiptoe, trying to hung it to the coat rack by the door. He really wondered where she took all that energy. Grace and Mia instead were both asleep. Grace had fallen asleep in the car and Mia at the party, despite the uproar.

...

"Asleep... like the other two" House said after just fifteen minutes, opening the bedroom door and starting to unbutton his pants.

Cuddy was already under the covers, with her back against the pillow. A book in one hand, her still bandaged right hand resting on her stomach. She didn't look up from her book but just nodded. House stared at her as he got under the covers beside her and she turned her head to look at him.

"Remind me not to bring you at a party with me anymore" She said seriously despite her eyes smiled slightly.

"Why?" He replied, laughing "What have I done?" He said, shaking his head slightly.

"Nothing" She replies staring at him and then turning back to her book.

House laughed, shaking his head and taking that book from her hands.

"What?" He asked again with an amused look. It was a rhetorical question, but he wanted to hear it from her mouth. _God... he liked when she was jealous..._

He watched her as she stared at him, with a serious look.

"What, Cuddy?" He repeated "Why are you mad at me?"

Cuddy looked at him again, running her tongue on her lips.

"Because of the way you looked at _that vampire_ " she replied.

"Rachel?" he asked, teasing her and looking at her as she rolled her eyes.

"No, not Rachel, you idiot!" She replied in an annoyed tone "The one allergic to lube" she said still staring at him.

House couldn't suppress a laugh.

"To lube?" He said raising an eyebrow "I thought that _'something'_ could be... I don't know... some sex toy" he said, laughing, continuing to look into her eyes.

But the look in her eyes didn't changed.

"I watched her because she was ridiculous, Lisa!" He said, shaking his head "It was a children's party, not a sadomasochistic night club" he added, laughing again.

"Yeah, sure..." she replied holding his gaze.

"Anyway... actually she was the one watching me" he said looking at the expression on her face. The same expression that for a split second he had seen in her eyes when that woman had placed a hand on his arm.

"Right" She replied.

House laughed again.

"Are you jealous?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and moving closer to her, leaning on her and putting his hand on her hip at the same time "Were you afraid she wanted _to suck my blood_?" He said on her mouth with a mischievous look.

Cuddy continued to stare at him with a serious look, but allowed him to suck her lip.

"Certainly it wasn't _your blood_ what she wanted to _suck_ , House!" She said looking at his mouth and then again at his eyes, stressing that _to suck_.

"Ah no?" He asked on her lips with a very mischievous look.

She watched as a smile appeared on his lips and she couldn't avoid to smile in turn as she felt his hand move down into her panties and between her legs and his tongue into her mouth.

He looked into her eyes as he took her arm, making her straddle him. She quickly peeled off her nightie from her head then bending down to kiss him.

 _You're only mine_... she whispered on his lips, moving her pelvis and looking into his eyes as she made him enter her. Deeply. She couldn't help but close her eyes to that feeling and House watched her as she tilted her head back and arched her back before opening her eyes, smiling and bending down to kiss him again.

He was only hers. He wouldn't want to be of anyone else. And in no other place than between her legs.

He put his hands on her hips favoring the movements of her pelvis as she moved on him and he watched her as arched back her head and back, resting her hands back on his knees. God, that position drove him crazy every time. So much that he had difficulty in continuing to look at her without letting go, while his eyes lingered on her neck, her breasts, the beautiful curve of her round belly, and her sex. Looking at himself trapped into her and rhythmically swallowed with every thrust was too much even for him.

He drew her to him, forcing her to bend over him as much as her belly allowed her, and looked at her as she smiled mischievously on his mouth.

" _Is it too much_ , House?" She smiled on his lips, looking mischievously at him.

"You're _too_ beautiful" He replied looking for her tongue and thrusting into her unleashing in her a swirl of sensations.

An _"oh my God, Greg ..."_ escaped her lips as her pupils dilated and she indulged in those feelings.

The rubbing of her most sensitive part against him and of his balls against her perineum, the feeling of him deep inside her, his tongue in her mouth, those words that rang in her ears... all that was _too much_ even for her and pushed her relentlessly over the edge.

House put his hands through her hair as she came, holding her face with both hands and stifling her moaning into his mouth.

She kiss him again and then moved her mouth on his jaw and on his neck, as she continued to pant and move more slowly on him. The words she whispered in his ear didn't send it immediately beyond the limit only because she suddenly pulled out, stopping for a moment the devastating feeling of pleasure.

That _"I want you... in my mouth"_ rang in his head while she gave shape to those words, bending over him, savoring herself on him. Her words mixed with the warmth of her mouth as he supported her movements keeping his hands in her hair. Her tongue drove him crazy. Her mouth drove him crazy. The thought that she wanted him in his mouth drove him crazy. And he couldn't hold back anymore. She kept sucking him more and more slowly, while his breathing gradually slowed, until he took her arms pulling her on top of him again, looking for her mouth.

"God... you're more than a man could want" he said on her mouth. His voice still hoarse and excited.

"I'm just interested in the desires of a specific _man_ " she said sucking on his lip.

He looked at her as she smiled and kissed him on the mouth again, more gently, before lying down, naked and slightly sweaty, next to him. He put an arm around her shoulders and let her rest her head on his chest.

They stayed silent. He on her back, she on her side, facing him. She stroked his chest, he stroked her arm while both listened only to the respective breathing.

The respective breathing... and the kicking inside her and against his side.

" Don't the two _blood-sucking_ like this position?" He said, smiling, meeting her gaze.

She slapped his chest glaring at him, as she sat up, covering herself with the sheets.

" _Blood-sucking_ , Cuddy" he laughed "I didn't say _cock-..."_

He didn't finish the sentence because that word was replaced by a loud 'OUCH' as she slapped his chest harder, glaring at him again.

He watched her as she rubbed her belly in the point where one of his children was still kicking inside her and sat up in turn, resting a hand on her belly.

"You will always be my favorite _blood-sucking_ " he said with a mischievous look, leaning over her and kissing her lightly on the lips.

 _"Favorite?"_ She said, raising an eyebrow, however, letting him kiss her on the lips.

House laughed, shaking his head.

"Right" he laughed "Not 'favorite'... the only one" he pointed out laughing, kissing her again.

Cuddy smiled, looking into his eyes.

"Better" she said, stroking his stubble "Even because, House, I could make sure that _that vampire_ has nothing left to _suck_ " she said with a mischievous and dangerous look at the same time.

"Got the message!" He laughed "You can be quite convincing" he added, smiling slightly and sucking her lip.

She looked at him as he stroked her belly, looking at his own hand and not at her. She had always loved that gesture. From the first time. The spontaneity of the gesture was so out of character for him that still surprised her...

"I'm sorry, but for this year you have to settle for this _mommy_ costume" she said, putting a hand on his, and meeting his gaze.

"I prefer the _mommy_ one to the _mummy_ one" he laughed taking his right hand, yet completely bandaged up to her wrist, and bringing it to his lips, kissing it lightly.

"What an idiot!" She said, laughing, shaking her head and stroking his stubble, looking at his eyes and then at his lips.

"I _definitely_ prefer the _mommy_ one" he repeated on her lips, still caressing her belly while he bent over her, finding her mouth in another, deeper, kiss.


	45. Christmas

Hello to everyone! Just a few chapters to the ending of this story and I'm already nostalgic...

In the meanwhile I published the first chapter of a new story... I couldn't resist the temptation. I'm going to publish just the first chapter for now because I'm focused on finishing this one first. It will be another multichapter story but not as long as this... The title is 'Postcard from the Philippines' so, well, if you want to go there and take a look (and maybe tell me what you think about that) I'll be very happy ;)

* * *

Just a short chapter but I hope you'll enjoy! And... I'm not Jewish so I hope I didn't write some nonsense...

* * *

 **...**

 **Chapter 45 - Christmas**

 **...**

* * *

House opened the door of Cuddy's office and watched her as she looked up from the paper she was reading.

"Why are you still here?" He asked looking at her as she rubbed her forehead, then moving her hand down to rub her neck "It's Christmas Eve..." he said as if that should be a good motivation to not work late.

He looked at her as she smiled.

"I'm Jewish, Greg" she said laughing "none _Holy Child_ _comes into the world_ tonight" she said, looking at him as he smiled in turn.

"Yeah" he said, smiling before looking at her again with a serious look "But I'd like that _no one else_ decides to _come into the world_ tonight" he said, pointing to her belly.

House looked at her as she leaned with her back against the backrest and rested her hands on her belly, rubbing it slightly.

She had started her eighth month. 30 weeks of pregnancy. It was still more than two months until her due date, but there was no reason to worry. She and the babies were fine. Better than they expected. But she had been the one to decide, to House's great astonishment, to delegate a part of her work, slowing down her pace and indulging herself in more decent working hours.

"Wells has postponed the Board meeting of this morning" she said, looking at him and then at her watch "I wish to be home by five" she added with a sigh.

"Wells is an idiot!" He said, looking at her and approaching while she nodded without answering.

He put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them slowly before bending over her.

"So... since you're Jewish ... I won't have a _Christmas gift_ tonight?" He mischievously whispered in her ear, then kissing the side of her neck.

Cuddy smiled stroking his stubble with one hand as he rested his head in the crook of her neck.

...

* * *

"Do you know that the two girls singing _Silent Night_ in the living room are _your daughters_ , don't you?" House said walking into the kitchen and looking at Cuddy.

Cuddy couldn't help but smile as she could clearly hear that a bit out of tune melody from the living room.

... _Silent night... Holy night... all is calm... all is bright..._

She couldn't suppress a laugh and close her eyes as those two little voices repeated that _"Christ the Saviour is boooooorn! Christ the Saviour is booooooorn!_

"My mother will kill you, Greg" she said, laughing, opening her eyes and shaking her head slightly.

"It's not my fault this time!" He said, smiling and putting his arms around her waist, holding her as tight as her belly allowed him to "At least on this I agree with you... none Holy Child came into the world tonight" he added with a smile, leaning in to kiss her lightly on the lips.

"But... better that you keep _your mother_ away from _mine_ " he said letting out a laugh as he looked for her lips in another tender kiss.

...

* * *

House opened the girls' bedroom door slowly and looked at Cuddy as she tucked Mia's blanket. She was going to turn one in a couple of weeks. One year since that January 7 that seemed so far away. He watched her as she caressed Mia's hair, then stopping to look at Grace. She could barely believe that she was already two years old. All the three of them were asleep in their beds. Rachel, Grace and Mia.

And two cots would soon be added to those beds. Two other names would be written in colorful wooden letters on that door.

 _James e Sophie._

In the end she had given in. She had been knowing the babies' sex for a few weeks now, and yet she never called them by name. Not yet. Perhaps superstitiously.. but she preferred to call them just _the twins_.

She turned sensing House's presence and smiled as he put an arm around her waist and kissed her temple.

"Merry Christmas, Cuddy" he whispered in her ear as she looked at an asleep Rachel and she couldn't help but smile at that _Merry Christmas_. The same _Merry Christmas_ he had told her exactly six years earlier.

...

* * *

Cuddy looked at House as she lay under the covers, on her side and facing him, resting her head on the pillow. He rested his hand on her hip and kept to look at her, slowly stroking her side.

"Did you talk with Addison?" He said looking into her eyes and continuing to caress her.

"Apparently I'll spare you a Valentine's gift" she said smiling slightly and looking away from his eyes to look at her own belly.

Her due date was on early March, but because of the complications of her last pregnancy and the current twin pregnancy, Addison had insisted on a scheduled C-section, in mid-February... on February 14...

"No sex on Valentine's Day?" He said seriously, teasing her "I already told you I hate your friend, right?" He laughed

Cuddy nodded, unable to hold back a laugh.

"I'm afraid that it'll be a... _no sex for a while_ , House" she pointed out stroking his stubble and brushing his lips with hers.

"I hate you" he whispered on her lips "... but I love you more" he added lightly biting her lip and moving his hand under her shirt to stroke her back.

Cuddy stared at him as his fingers slowly stroked each vertebra of her spine, and found his mouth, brushing his tongue. He deepened the kiss, making her lie down on her back, and then bending over her, caressing her breasts as he kissed her. God, he'd have liked to be able to stay on top of her and between her legs... but it was definitely impossible... He stroked her skin, moving his hand down between her legs, still kissing her. The feeling of how much turned on she was drove him crazy. The way in which she slightly arched her back as he touched her drove him crazy.

Her hand suddenly stopped his. And he heard her as she suddenly inhaled, then holding her breath.

"Stop..." she whispered exhaling slowly and putting a hand on her stomach.

"What's wrong?"

"Sorry..." she whispered, opening her eyes and meeting his worried look "it's... it's just a..."

She suddenly held her breath again.

"Oh... fuck, _James_!" She moaned, closing her eyes again and suddenly sitting up, exhaling slowly without opening her eyes.

 _James._ He had never heard her calling one of them by name. It was the first time she said his name... well... yeah... actually together with a not quite _maternal_ exclamation.

House looked at her, worried, putting a hand on hers, but the half-smile that appeared on her face reassured him.

"How on earth can he kick like this?" She said smiling slightly and continuing to rub her belly "And he kicked my bladder during the whole meeting this afternoon" she added, looking at House.

"I would have kicked too if I you forced me to put up with two hours of meeting, Lisa" He replied laughing, watching her as she laugh in turn.

"And anyway... how do you know it's him? There are two of them in here" he said, looking at her and continuing to stroke her belly.

"Because on the last ultrasound _he_ was the one firmly pressing on my bladder with his feet" she smiled "He already reminds me of someone..." she added, glaring at him "Another copy of you..." she said, shaking her head but smiling, referring to Grace.

House smiled, raising an eyebrow, still looking into her eyes.

"So he'll be handsome... fascinating... smart..." he said, bending to kiss her lightly on the lips.

"... self-centered... arrogant... presumptuous..." she added on his lips, kissing him in turn and smiling.

House laughed.

"Boys look more like the mother. He'll be your copy, Cuddy! Like me he'll just have... well, what his mother likes so much of me... and I'm not talking about my brain!" He laughed with a mischievous look touching her lips with his tongue.

She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile.

"But I don't want him to be circumcised..." he said looking into her eyes.

She looked at him quizzically.

"What?" She said, as if she wasn't sure she clearly understood. They had never talked about that, but...

"None will touch his _family heirloom_..." he said seriously "Well ... if not some beautiful girl between at least fifteen years!" He added, looking into her eyes.

Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"Greg .. it's a ritual... a tradition..."

"Yours, Lisa ... not his..." he said more sharply than he would have liked.

Cuddy stared at him. Not that she cared so much about that actually ... but it was her religion. She wasn't very practicing, almost for nothing... but it was the religion in which she grew up... It wasn't something she wanted to fight about... but she never thought he would be contrary to that Jewish rite...

"I don't remember you ever complained about the _full_ version" he said with a mischievous look that told her that in any case he was not going to argue about that topic. At least not for now...

Cuddy licked her lips and looked into his eyes again.

"He's not going to be emasculated, Greg..." she said, looking serious at him "Wilson's fine..." she added.

"And what do you know about that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow with a look somewhere between sly and amused.

She stared at him again, holding his gaze.

"Fine..." House said moving the sheets to get up "... we'll talk again about this..."

"Where are you going?" She asked with a quizzical look.

"To erase from my mind the image of Wilson's penis " he answered seriously, but actually failing not to smile

Cuddy laughed and shook her head as she took his arm.

"Come here" she said as she pulled him back on the bed, next to her.

He lay back on his back on the bed and smiled as she put her arms around his neck and looked for his lips.

"Let me cancel that ugly image from your eyes..." she said, taking off her shirt and putting his hand on her breast.

"Do you want to try the _full_ version, Cuddy?" He asked with a mischievous look, looking into her eyes and teasing one of her nipples with his fingers.

Cuddy didn't answer, but found his mouth. And that was her answer.


	46. Lemon & chocolate

**Chapter 46 - Lemon & chocolate**

 **...**

* * *

He hated the mall. But if there was one thing he hated most of the mall it was _a Saturday morning... at the mall._

Hordes of people that filled shopping carts as if they had to supply an underground bunker in anticipation of a nuclear war.

Yet he couldn't help but smile as he watched Rachel and Grace skipping near him as they crossed the parking lot toward the main entrance. He held Grace's hand and Grace held Rachel's hand.

"That's not what I meant with _'walking on the pedestrian crossing'_ ..." he said, laughing, watching Rachel as she jumped from one white stripe to another, while Grace tried to imitate her, losing her balance slightly with each jump.

Well... those two smiles could make him bear even the shopping at the mall!

...

* * *

"Daddy?"

"Mmmhhh?"

"May we take those?" Rachel asked, pointing to a box of chocolate filled cereal.

House shook his head as he reached instead for a box of Cheerios.

"Pleeeeeeeease" she said with a pleading face to which House couldn't resist, letting out a smile as this time he nodded.

"Your mother is going to kill me" he said, looking at Grace, sitting in the cart seat, and then at a satisfied Rachel who threw that box in the cart.

"I'll protect you, Daddy" she said hugging his leg as he ruffled her hair.

Breakfast cereal. Milk. Eggs... Whenever he had shopping with Rachel the healthy shopping list of Cuddy enriched of the strangest things. From pet-shaped fishcakes to fruit juices with princesses stickers... They were at the mall to theoretically buy just a couple of things ... but, as usual, those few things would have multiplied like loaves and fishes. He could already see Cuddy roll her eyes.

"May I go and get an ice cream tub?" She said, raising her head to look at him, pointing to the frozen-food aisle down the hallway "For mom!" She explained with a ear to ear smile.

House looked at her and couldn't help but smile again. She was definitely a very cute little girl. And certainly she knew how to get what she wanted. Well... for sure from him! He hesitated a moment but nodded.

"Ok, but don't stray" he said looking at her as she ran toward the ice-cream freezer.

...

She loved the mall. Especially going there with Dad. And she adored those shelves full of colorful tubs.

Strawberry. Vanilla. Caramel. All sorts of chocolate. White. Black. With or without hazelnuts... Even the Smurf-flavored one. Her mother didn't want her to eat Smurf ice cream. She wondered why... It was a beautiful bright blue and ... there were not really Smurfs into! Actually... she didn't know what was into that... But how could she choose just only a flavor among those thirty-five flavors of ice cream?

"Rachel?"

She looked up toward that voice, but didn't smile, just staring at the man from the bottom up.

"Hey... you're really a big girl. You were just a toddler" he said, smiling, reaching for her as though she stepped back.

"Um ... Mom says I don't have to talk to strangers" she said, looking into his eyes.

He smiled.

"Well, your Mom is absolutely right" he said nodding "... but I'm not a stranger. I'm a friend of your Mom" he said still smiling at her "Rachel Cuddy, right?"

She looked at him, shaking her head.

"Rachel House" she said, looking at him "Cuddy is Mommy's surname" she added seriously, not giving any smile at that _stranger._

Sure... _Cuddy_ was her mom's surname. Why didn't he think about that! But... _House_? Really? He wouldn't have bet a penny on them! Sure... the attraction between them was obvious... a kind of electricity that ran from one to the other when they were in the same room, even when they just look at each other... but... he had never thought their relationship could work. They were different. Too different. House wasn't the kind of guy for her... He, on the contrary, was the kind of guy for her. Or at least that was what he thought until that night.

"Rachel"

Rachel turned her head to look at her father and smiled, going towards him and embracing his leg with one arm while he put in turn an arm around her shoulders.

"Hi Lucas" he said with a nod.

"House" He answered, greeting him in turn with a nod, shaking hands with him and smiling slightly.

He didn't miss how he looked at Grace.

"Whoa!... You definitely don't need a paternity test" He said laughingly looking at that little girl. A sort of miniature of her father. She definitely had his eyes. But she even looked like Lisa too. A perfect mix of the two of them.

"You look good" House said.

"Yeah" he replied, tilting his head slightly to one side "Thanks to you" he added "Or you'd have to get me one of those" he said gesturing to House's cane.

"Well... I could get you a discount!" He replied with a sarcastic tone, looking into his eyes.

"Oh ... um ... sorry" he said trying to rectify that very inappropriate comments "Although..."

He was clearly uncomfortable. And House continued to stare at him holding back a smile.

Lucas shook his head.

"Although... well... she chose you... so maybe as a cripple I would have had one more chance... and er..." he vigorously shook his head and raised a hand "no, sorry..." he said with a smile somewhere between guilty and embarrassed "... sorry ... this was a very inappropriate comment" he said still staring at him.

House couldn't help but laugh this time, and shook his head, laughing.

"Don't apologize" he said, shaking his head and laughing again "At least you can't compete with me!" He laughed and made him laugh and shake his head in turn.

Rachel distracted them from that moment of embarrassment.

She had opened the freezer door and was trying in vain to reach for a tub of ice cream. House stretched his arm above her head putting a chocolate ice-cream tub in her hands and then reaching out to close the door.

"Wait" Rachel said, drawing his attention on herself again "Mom wants that too" she said, pointing to a tub on the higher shelf.

House handed it to her and watched as she put it in the cart.

"Got everything?" He asked looking at her thoughtful face.

"No!" She exclaimed as if she had an epiphany "Pickles for Mommy!" She said looking into his eyes.

House looked at her with a disgusted look, however, nodding before meeting Lucas' eyes staring at them with both eyebrows up.

"Um ... Lisa hates pickles" he said, looking at House before shaking his head and raise an hand "Um ... I mean ... she _hated_ them"

House didn't answer, but Rachel replied in his place. She was no more scared by that guy. It was... funny. And then... she always felt very brave when she was with Dad.

"Yes, Mom hates pickles. They're for the babies in her belly" she said, looking at Lucas, with a look that reminded him without any doubt of her mother.

Lucas didn't answer, just looking up at House. With a look somewhere between a questioning and a appalled one. That is ... not only they were still together... was she pregnant? Again? And... did she say 'babies' or his ears were making fun of him? Whoa! And he wouldn't really bet a dime on them! How could be possible that _a self-centered misanthrope bastard_ like him could give her what she really wanted from a man?

Well... actually he now had a certainty... and that was nothing new, but once again just a confirmation... _he didn't know absolutely nothing about women!_

...

"Here! Pickles" House said handing the jar to Rachel.

"That's enough!" He added "Or we should buy her rather something for the tapeworm." He said, shaking his head and smiling.

"What a tapeworm?" Rachel asked, looking from the bottom up, with a quizzical expression.

"Er ... a parasite that lives in the belly" he said looking at her.

She looked at him with a disgusted and puzzled look at the same time.

"There's not a worm in Mommy's belly, silly" she said, laughing and shaking her head "There're the baby siblings!"

House laughed and nodded, ruffling her hair as they walked down the aisle pushing the cart.

"Daddy?"

"Mmmhhh?"

"Daddies put babies in the mommies' belly, right?"

"Yup"

"How?"

He looked at her. Um ... well... _good question!_

"Emma's mom says it's like for my sprig of the school project..." she said, arguing her doubt with a pensive look "I planted some seeds... and the sprig popped out"

"That's... something like that" he said looking at her. _Something like that?!_ He, Gregory House, who answered _that question_ with a _'something like that'_ ?!

Rachel nodded, still walking.

"Yes, but..." she said with a thoughtful look, looking up at him, as they got in the checkout line. "How?" She asked again, staring at him "Did she eat them?"

House held back a smile at the thought of what in fact his wife had given him that morning. And run his tongue on his lips "Er... no..." he replied.

"So... how?"

House held his daughter's gaze, looking into his very-high-QI mind for an answer that suited for a 6-year-old girl... _In vain!_

"Um... look Rach! Blue or pink?" He asked taking a large bag from the shelf near the check-out.

"Pink!" She replied with another of her ear-to-ear smile.

...

House watched Cuddy as she pulled out one by one the things from the shopping bags and put them on the kitchen shelves, and saw her roll her eyes and glare at him as she took that _big family-size bag of pink and white marshmallows._

"Remind me not to send you and _your_ daughter anymore in a grocery store together " She said looking into his eyes.

"I have an explanation for that one" he said pointing to the bag in her hands.

Cuddy licked her lips and shook her head slightly, unable to hold back a laugh.

"Yes, of course" she said looking into his eyes and shaking her head again.

"Dad told me how the babies went into your belly." Rachel said nonchalantly looking at her mother.

Cuddy watched her as she walked out of the kitchen and then looked at House, widening her eyes and slightly opening her mouth.

"It's not what you think" he said, raising a hand and letting out a laugh, approaching her and putting his hands on her hips.

"Seeds and plants" he said, smiling and looking into her eyes, kissing her lightly on the lips "I have been vague" he whispered, smiling and looking at her as she smiled and nodded.

"She asked me if you ate _my seeds_ " He whispered again on her lips, laughing, still staring at her.

Cuddy closed her eyes, biting her lip, unable not to smile.

"And you?" She asked, opening her eyes and meeting his again, continuing to bite her lip.

"I..." he smiled "... I bought her a bag of marshmallows!" He laughed, kissing her again on the lips as she laughed and nodded, stroking his nape.

...

* * *

1 a.m. and an empty bed. House turned under the covers running a hand over his face. No light seeping from under the bathroom door, then certainly Cuddy wasn't there. He ran his hand on his face again as evaluating if getting up or not.

1 a.m. on a cold night on early January. The warmth of the blanket enveloped him like a baby in its mother's womb. Exactly... _like a baby in its mother's womb_ ... _Shit_ , couldn't he just go back to be the uncaring jerk he had been for almost fifty years and stay under that blanket? No... of course not... not anymore...

He put on his pajama pants and looked for his shirt among the sheets, without finding it, shivering slightly as he walked barefoot and shirtless down the hallway.

"Hey..." he said, walking into the kitchen.

Cuddy looked up and smiled.

"We're on January, Lisa" he said, looking at the bowl of ice cream in front of her "Indeed, 1 a.m. on a January night" he pointed out, watching her as she nodded.

"Tell them" she said smiling, looking at her belly.

House looked at her as she took a spoonful of ice cream and put it into her mouth. _Chocolate ice-cream_ . And then another...

"Are you serious?" He said with a disgusted look on his face.

"What?" She laughed, bringing to her mouth that second spoonful of ice cream.

"You are!" He said, laughing, shaking his head slightly. Chocolate. And _lemon._

Cuddy smiled and shook her head slightly.

"I can't help it" she said, laughing " pregnancy cravings" she said, staring at him and biting her lip slightly.

God, those eyes. He knew that look. All too well.

"Pregnancy _cravings_?" He repeated, looking at her with the same look she had just given him.

He watched her as she nodded, eating the last spoonful of ice cream and then leaving the empty bowl on the table, standing up and approaching him. He stroked her back through the fabric of the pajamas before slowly moving his hands on her lower back and then again under the shirt that barely covered her butt.

"That's where my shirt was" he said fiddling with the buttons of _her_ pajamas and then unbuttoning a pair of them before caressing her neck and then stopping on her nape "Once again, I'll know who to thank for my cold" he said, smiling brushing her lips.

Cuddy laughed as she clung to him, putting herself on tiptoe and her arms around his neck.

"My poor boy" she said brushing his lips with her tongue "What's about... once again... thanking me... _period?_ " she added with a mischievous look, looking for his tongue.

"You're not a good girl" he whispered, smiling, kissing her neck while she slipped a hand in his pajama bottoms, clinging to him as much as her belly allowed her.

"Not at all" she replied mischievously, rubbing him with her hand "Do you want to know what I'm good...in?" She added, raising both eyebrows.

He looked at her as she lowered his pants and underwear in one move, kneeling in front of him and looking into his eyes before taking him in her mouth.

The feeling of her mouth on him caught him off guard and he groaned, burying his hands into her hair.

"God, Lisa" he moaned. Her tongue, cold because of the ice-cream, was in stark contrast to the warmth of her mouth and that contrast unleashed in him a whirlwind of sensations.

She pulled out as soon as he grasped her hair more in his hands. His warning to stop before it was too late. She looked up, meeting his gaze as he grabbed her forearms to help her to stand up.

He held her. His hands through her hair as he passionately found her tongue, pushing her toward the kitchen counter at the same time.

She kissed back, keeping her eyes closed, until her butt touched the edge of the counter. She opened her eyes and met his gaze, smiling and biting her lip.

"I thought I was the one _having cravings_ " she whispered, looking into his eyes and smiling.

"You're my favorite dessert" he replied, looking for the hem of her shirt and then for her skin, before kissing her again.

She replied just with a long _hhhmmm_ as his tongue touched hers, sending a quiver in her lady parts.

She put her hands on the counter behind her, but hesitated. A small leap had always been enough for her to sit on that counter. She had done it so many times, opening her legs to welcome him between her knees, then pulling him closer to herself and kissing him before... She bit her lip at that thought. But... those times they didn't have a bulky eight-months intruder between them. For the record... two of them...

House stroked her belly with one hand, but looked at her with a mischievous look as he moved between her legs that same hand, unexpectedly pushing his fingers inside her. She winced and held her breath, moaning and hiding her face on his chest.

"Oh God ..." she moaned again as he continued to excite her with his fingers.

 _God ..._ actually this wasn't the _craving_ that had awakened her in the middle of the night, but... _oh God... God..._ this was _... oh my G_... much better...

She found his mouth, kissing him deeply before holding her breath again, gripping his shoulders with her hands as her tongue stop in his mouth.

House looked at her with a little questioning look as soon as she placed a hand on his chest, slightly pushing him away, stopping his hand. But his gaze immediately changed as soon as she looked at him and turned toward the counter, bending over and resting her hands on it.

 _God..._

"Are you _craving for something else_?" He whispered in her ear, with a deep and excited tone, bending over behind her and stroking her ass and back.

She could now feel what her belly prevented her from feeling. His erection against her. Between her buttocks. Feeling it to touch the warmth of her most intimate part made her throb in anticipation.

"Oh God, Greg... I want you" she replied with a tone of voice that alone would be almost enough to make him come.

She could barely finish the sentence as he entered her deeply in one move, leaving her breathless. He continued to move in and out of her as she close in fists the hands she rested on the counter, tilting back her neck.

The way in which he kissed her neck holding her chin with his hand as he moved inexorably in and out of her was enough to make her come. He was so deeply inside her that she wanted to scream.

House moved between her legs the hand that was on her hip, stroking her with his palm and instantly feeling her inner folds contract around him. It was enough for her to move her pelvis slightly, pushing her most sensitive part against his palm, because her muscles clung more around him. And his moans mingled with hers as she squeezed him in turn inexorably to his climax.

"God ..." he groaned, collapsing on her back, kissing and caressing her skin.

He lowered her shirt, realizing only then that he had not even taken off her pajama top.

She turned, putting her arms around his neck, smiling and looking for his lips.

"Let's go back to bed?" She said still smiling and stroking his stubble "Before you really get a cold"

House nodded and kissed her on the lips before giving her a little smack on the butt, looking into her eyes and whispering only a "Let's go".

...

* * *

A hand touched her face, but Cuddy didn't open her eyes. She stayed still under the sheets, and the only sign that she was almost awake was the little sigh that escaped her lips. She had liked their overnight _digression_. Digression... and _transgression._ But now she felt all the weight of the lack of those hours of sleep. Especially when frequent awakenings disturbed the few hours she spent in bed. She couldn't stand on her back anymore, unless she wanted almost choke and break her spine. She couldn't sleep on her right side, unless she wanted to have her ribs continuously kicked by little feet. And her bladder now had a capacity of less than two hours. She let herself be lulled by the warmth of the covers before the same hand touched her face again, this time lingering on her nose and on her lips.

She opened her eyes and she couldn't help but immediately smile as her eyes met two unexpected eyes.

Not the blue eyes of her husband, but two wonderful dark eyes.

She smiled and kissed the little fingers playing on her lips.

"Happy birthday, my love" she whispered pulling Mia in a hug and holding her in her arms, kissing her nose, cheek and mouth, while she smiled.

She met House's eyes behind Mia and smiled, then looking back at her daughter and stroking her tummy. House watched as she tickled her and she laughed. A very infectious laugh and she couldn't stop looking at her. She was special. She had always been. And she was like a magnet. Her smile could fully convey on herself the attention of the ones who looked at her. Certainly her mother's one.

"I can't believe you're _already one year old, honey_ " she said, smiling, looking at Mia.

House looked at her and nodded, smiling in turn.

"I can't believe _it's already been a year since that day_ " she repeated, looking up at him, slightly biting her lip and shaking her head slightly, then smiling another slight smile, realizing only in that moment what he had done.

 _January 7._ For months she had hoped that that day had never existed. That day could be deleted from the calendar. A year later... she was going to celebrate that day. Without that January 7 she wouldn't have had that laughter ringing in her ears. Without that January 7 she wouldn't have had those two little arms around her neck as a little voice kept repeating that _ma-ma_ against her neck. That January 7 had taken away her son... but had given her a daughter.

She looked at House and smiled. He had made this. He had made sure that her first thought on that January 7 was about _what they had_... and not about what they had lost.

"Did I already tell you how much I love you?" She said, smiling, looking into his eyes.

"Did I already tell you how much beautiful you are when you smile?" He said, kissing her lightly on the lips.

 _..._

* * *

 _..._

* * *

 _So... we're almost at the end of this story... the one coming will be the last chapter._


	47. Life

_Here we are... the last chapter... I hope you loved to read this as much as I loved to write it! And again... enjoy!_

* * *

 **...**

 **Chapter 47 - Life**

 **...**

* * *

It was very strange to walk into the hospital as a patient and not as the Dean of Medicine. Sincerely she had been away from the hospital only for a couple of weeks, and it already seemed a lifetime.

House snorted while yet another nurse stopped to greet her as if she hadn't seen her for a couple of years.

Journey from PPTH main entrance to elevator in a common morning: 35 seconds.

Journey from PPTH main entrance to elevator _that morning_ : 35 minutes.

35 minutes ... in absence of other changes of course...

"You're kidding, aren't you?" He said looking at her with an exasperated look as she knocked on the door of her own office, which was temporarily occupied by Wilson.

"Just a minute, Greg" she said, turning to look at him, smiling slightly as she opened the door.

Wilson greeted her with a smile, standing up to hug her.

"Might you remember to my wife that she's not here today as the Dean of Medicine?" He said with an exasperated look, looking at Wilson and then again at Cuddy, as she leafed through some of the documents that were on the desk.

" Might you remember to my husband that I gave birth to Grace in our bedroom?" She said watching House with the same look "I'm in hospital. It's already an improvement" She said still looking at him as she couldn't help but smile.

"Right" he replied "Good answer" he said, smiling at her "But _a certain Dean of Medicine_ has a scheduled a C-section in the afternoon ... and I didn't hear it's Wilson" he said, looking seriously at her but holding back a smile.

Cuddy rolled her eyes and put on the desk the documents in her hand.

"May I use the bathroom, please?" She asked Wilson as House rolled his eyes at her.

"Don't give me that look" she said, staring at House "You haven't got more than fifteen pounds pressing on your bladder!"

Wilson smiled. Of course she could use the bathroom. After all it was _her_ bathroom.

"I have a meeting in two minutes, _boss_ " he said hugging her again "See you later... and fifteen pounds lighter" he added with a smile, then walking out of the room.

House looked at Cuddy, shaking his head.

"Next time remind me to come here at least two hours in advance" he said, looking at her and shaking his head.

Cuddy couldn't suppress a laugh.

"There won't be a next time, House!" She said, laughing while he shook his head, smiling in turn.

He looked at her as she walked into the bathroom. His hand on the office door handle. Generally he wasn't a punctual guy at all. He had never been. She was the punctual one. He didn't care about schedules. He didn't ever care at all. But not that morning. And not because he cared about the scheduled time for her admission... simply he was nervous. He'd never admit it, but he was nervous. With Grace it had been different... he hadn't had time to think... no warning, no exhausting waiting in an hospital room, and he had held his daughter in his arms almost before he had time to realize what had really happened. But this time was different. He was supposed to stay beside her... actually he had to... if he wanted _to save his balls!_... But he was going to be only a helpless viewer. And that role didn't suit him. Not at all. And that made him nervous...

"Greg..." her voice awakened him from that thought.

"Let's go, boss?" he said without looking up.

"No"

"What do you mean with _'no'_?" he said, rolling his eyes "For Christ's sake, Lisa, what else now?" He asked with a sigh as he turned to look at her.

She leaned with one hand against the door jamb for support. The other hand on her stomach. She exhaled slowly and bit her lip, swallowing, before looking up at him.

"My waters broke" she whispered, meeting his gaze.

...

* * *

"I swear to God. You're fired" she hissed, clutching the sheet in her hands as her breathing became labored again because of another contraction.

The anesthesiologist looked at House, stopping the needle for the epidural anesthesia and waiting for the fading of that contraction. It wasn't his fault... she must stay still during that procedure, but her contractions were already so close one to another that it wasn't easy at all for her. _She_ couldn't stay still. _He_ couldn't risk to paralyze her because of a wrong procedure. He wouldn't have risked with any patient... let alone with his boss! Even if she threatened to fire him.

"I'm sorry Dr. Cuddy..." he said, trying to justify himself "... I ..."

"It's the pain speaking" he said, looking at him "She already promised me that we'll never have sex again... and at least a couple of divorces" he said, watching as he smiled slightly looking at them both. House was in front of Cuddy, his arms around her shoulders in an attempt to help her stay still while her face was buried against his chest and she tried to bent her back toward him as much as she could.

Fifteen minutes later at least the anesthetic had taken effect. Epidural anaesthesia, not spinal anaesthesia.

"Better?" House asked stroking her hair and bending down to kiss her on the lips.

She nodded, stroking his stubble, but not opening her eyes.

"I swear I'm going to kill him with my own hands" she whispered, again without opening her eyes. Pain was much more bearable now, with that dose of analgesic in her cerebrospinal fluid, but she could still clearly feel the contractions, as if a huge boulder compressed her abdomen every time, leaving her breathless.

"Lisa..."

"And you after him" she whispered seriously, while a slightly amused smile appeared instead on House's lips.

Addison had convinced her to attempt a vaginal delivery. The C-section was just a precaution because of the twin pregnancy, but she had no contraindications to a natural childbirth. Her contractions were already very close-range and she was almost fully dilated. Epidural made the pain bearable and a C-section would have only lengthened her hospital staying... with stitches and scar... with a natural childbirth she would be standing half an hour after giving birth...

She had convinced her. Well... actually she wasn't really very _convinced._..

"Why me?" House said trying to make her smile "Take it out on your friend"

"Because ..." she breathed in as her belly hardened again making it difficult for her to speak "... because you did this to me..." she whispered looking into his eyes and exhaling slowly.

House held back a smile, biting his lip. During Grace's childbirth she had totally lost control. She had lost her clarity of mind. She cried. This time, without fear, but still partially clouded by pain, she repeated the same words that every woman says during labor, and she would never have thought she could say.

And like every in labor woman she was going to completely forget everything, including pain, in the exact moment in which she'll look at her children.

...

Maybe _not 'forgotten'_ , but of course, less than an hour later, pain was already her last thought while two pairs of blue eyes looked at the world for the first time.

 _"I'm a girl" the pink card on one of the two cots said._

 _Sophie House - born February 14, 2014 at 11:21_

 _"I'm a boy" the blue one on the other cot said._

 _James House - born February 14, 2014 at 11:27_

"Happy Valentine's Day, sunshine" House whispered on her lips looking into her eyes.

"Happy Valentine's Day, my love" she said, kissing him lightly on the lips while stroking his stubble with her hand.

Cuddy turned her head toward the two cots beside her hospital bed and couldn't help but smile.

"God... they... they're a miracle..." she whispered as her eyes misted, looking at those two little ones in their cribs.

So small. Eyes closed. Tiny arms bent at the sides of their head with clenched fists. A pink cap and a blue one. A white onesie with a pink bunny for Sophie. An identical one but with a blue bunny for James. The slightly too long sleeves that covered part of their hands.

His and her name written on a bunny-shaped card on their cribs. A pink one and a blue one.

 _Bunnies._

 _Her_ bunnies.

"Technically, Cuddy..." he said with a mischievous tone "... it wasn't _God_ the one you called that night" he said with a smile making her laugh and turn her head to look at him, shaking her head slightly.

"I love you" she said, looking into his eyes and stroking his stubble again, looking for his lips.

House looked into her eyes. With a look that was a silent _"I love you."_

He continued to look at her and she at him.

"Yes" he said, still lost in the color of her eyes.

Cuddy looked at him with a questioning look.

" _Yes... what?_ " She asked, smiling and still looking at him.

"It was my answer..." he replied continuing to stare at her with the same look.

"Um... your answer... to what?" She asked again, slightly biting her lip and smiling.

"To your question on _that_ Valentine's day on your doorstep" he said looking into her eyes as she slightly opened her mouth and looked down.

 _... do you like me, House?_

She look up at him again, smiling and biting her lip more as her eyes misted again.

"I know..." she said, nodding and smiling slightly, stroking his stubble.

She bit her lip again and ran her tongue on her lips as she let out a little laugh, shaking her head slightly.

"I was jealous..." he said looking into her eyes "... that the _Shriner and his parted-on-the-left hair_ could have what I wanted for myself" he added, shaking his head slightly, but smiling.

"He didn't have _anything_ " she said, looking into his eyes and stroking his lips with her thumb, still smiling slightly and biting her lip.

"Really?" He asked, raising his eyebrows slightly and looking at her as she nodded.

"Yeah" she laughed "He said that... he wanted a woman who could be with him as I was with you" she said, stroking his stubble and looking at his mouth as a smile appeared on it "An awful Valentine's Day" she added, laughing and running her tongue on her lips.

"That night..." House said looking in turn at her eyes and then at her mouth "... I didn't need a consult..."

Cuddy nodded again.

"I know..." she answered, smiling, looking at his eyes and then at his mouth as she moved her hand from his cheek to his neck finding his lips and then his tongue into a long and deep kiss.

...

* * *

"Dr House?"

He looked up from his patient's folder and looked at the nurse in front of him with a slightly quizzical look.

"Your mother called and left a message" She said, handing him a note.

"Thanks, Michelle" he replied with the hint of a smile, looking at those few lines scribbled hastily on that note.

...

 _Home._

He sought the key in the bunch of keys in his pocket. Opening that door was enough to feel at home. The difference between _house_ and _home_. That was _home_. The scent of that house... that was the scent of home. Not of his two-room apartment in Baltimore, where his guitar disappeared under piles of books and magazines piled everywhere.

Home.

"Hi Joy!" He laughed, squatting while a blond Golden Retriever ran toward him and tried to lick his face as he stroked his fur rubbing his head and ears with both hands. "I missed you, doggy" he said laughingly and standing up.

He remembered very well the day when that yellow and chubby puppy had arrived in their family almost fifteen years earlier. A _"bundle of joy"._ That's why his sisters had called him _'Joy'._ And he remembers just as well as his mother had strictly ordered his father _"Absolutely not inside! The dog stays in the garden, House!"_ Well... Joy slept not even one night outside in the garden. As soon as his dark big eyes had met hers, Joy had become the third _boy_ of the house. And he hadn't gone anymore.

The scent of that house ... it was _home_ scent.

His mother's scent... and the scent of wooden parquet... of the many books on the bookcases along the walls. Old medical books mixed with new ones. And the smell of turkey coming from the kitchen. The scent of grandma Blythe's house on Thanksgiving.

The atmosphere of his home. The voices of his sisters. The paintings on the walls. Sketches in pencil and charcoal. By Rachel. The pictures on the coffee table near the main door.

He loved those pictures. Pieces of his childhood.

 _Mont Saint-Michel._ His first trip to Europe. His mother didn't like posed pictures. In that picture five children laughed as they eat a crêpe in front of a small bistro with red windows, the ancient abbey in the background, just down the street paved with stones. His face in that picture was dirty with chocolate. As well as Mia and Sophie's ones. He could almost still savor the taste of that crêpe. _Banana and chocolate._

 _Himself after one of his Lacrosse matches._ Seven, maybe eight, years old. Definitely! His mother didn't like posed pictures! In that picture he was so sweaty that he looked like Joy after a dive in the pool! But he couldn't blame her! The expression on his face deserved that picture! He held his helmet under his arm as his father ruffled his soaked hair with an expression of pure pride that even after almost twenty years made his heart flatter.

 _A picture of his parents._ He smiled at the memory of that picture. He had taken it. A bit crooked, very crooked indeed... ... but his mother was so beautiful in that picture! She was laughing. Eyes closed. And his father laughed with her. One hand resting on her hip. He had always wondered what he said to make her laugh like that... The expression on her face was an _absolute joy_. And the one on his father's face of _absolute love_.

 _His graduation. And Sophie's. Rachel's. Grace's. Mia's._

"James"

He looked up meeting his mother's eyes, and her smile, as she approached him, hugging him tight.

"I'm so happy you're here" she said holding him like when he was a child though he was as tall as his father.

As tall as his father, but with his mother's eyes. His character... well... that was a mix of the two of them. A kind of smooth version of his father. The same intuition, the same perspicacity... but with his mother's manners.

"I couldn't miss it, Mom" he said meeting her smile and kissing her cheek again.

Joy kept to skip around him as he walked into the dining room.

"You're always the last of the laying, James!" Sophie said, laughing as she hugged him and he rolled his eyes at her.

"And you're always only six minutes older than me, Sophie" he said, laughing, as he hugged her and lightly lifted her off the ground the same time.

She was the opposite of him. She was physically identical to her mother. Even the shape of her eyes was the same of her mother, but with her father's color. Her character instead was definitely his father's. Luckily her femininity muffled a bit the edges of that character.

He peered into the pots on the stove, digging a finger into the mashed potatoes. He could obviously use a spoon... but in that way it had a completely different taste.

Another finger quickly dag in the same pot, then spreading mashed potatoes on his face.

"Shit... Mia!" He said giving her a dirty look, but failing to hold back a laugh, wiping his mouth with a hand and then chasing her as she tried to escape.

He loved all his sisters. But with Mia he had a complicity that he didn't have with the others. Sophie was his twin, but there had always been rivalry between them. Healthy rivalry... but still rivalry. And for Grace and Rachel, one the shadow of the other one, he had always been the little brother. With Mia instead it had always been an equal relationship. They understood each other just by looking into each other's eyes.

"JAMIE! Put me down!" She screamed, laughing, while he lifted her on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and Cuddy rolled her eyes at them. "I won't do it again! I swear!" She shouted, laughing, slapping his hands.

Mia. The _ugly duckling_ of the family. Not because she was ugly. Not at all! But because she was like a swan in a family of ducks. The only one not dark-haired and blue-eyed... but blond-haired and with big brown eyes. She had never felt _different_. Not even that time when that idiot of Tommy Ryan had called her _'bastard'_.

He remembered very well that afternoon. And for sure also Tommy Ryan reminded it.

She had just given him a dirty look and just shrugged _"I know... I'm a lucky bastard."_ She had stated "But..." she had stared at him, slightly bending her head sideways, and had pointed with her finger to the dimple on his chin _"... that guy that has been getting you from school for twelve years ... it's not your father"_ she had said seriously looking at the bewildered expression on his face _"So...welcome to the club! "_ She had added with a House's smirk worthy of the best genetic prints before turning around, leaving him standing there, petrified.

"Put your sister down!" His mother said giving him a half-scowl, as this time he put her on the ground.

"They're no more five years old, Lisa" House said, laughing, embracing her from behind and kissing her temple.

"Honestly... sometimes I have some doubts" she said, stroking his stubble with her hand and looking at both James and Mia, unable to suppress a smile.

Thanksgiving. The family reunited. Except James, who worked in Baltimore, their daughters all lived nearby and they could stay together very often. But they no longer lived all under the same roof.

...

* * *

"James, may you go and get another bottle of wine, please" Cuddy said without looking up, while she helped House to slice the turkey.

"Sure" two voices answered simultaneously.

She looked up and couldn't help but smile, watching them both. Both standing, while, in turn, they looked at each other.

"Which one, Mom?" James said, smiling back.

"Uncle Wilson" she pointed out "He's the wine expert" she said, looking as he got up to go and choose the wine.

"She still remember that bottle of _Amarone,_ Wilson!" House yelled to Wilson as he walked out the room and Cuddy slapped his arm.

He looked at her, laughing and rubbing his arm.

"What did I say?" He asked laughing, looking into her eyes.

She raised both eyebrows and ran her tongue on her lips.

"Nothing. Not yet. And make sure it stays that way" she said, looking serious at him and piercing him with her eyes.

House laughed watching her and then his children.

"They're all adults, Lisa!" He said, laughing, still watching his children and then looking again at her "They know that we..."

"House!" She said, silencing him just with the sound of his name as she always did.

He rolled his eyes and ran his tongue on his lips as he looked at his children.

"Me and your mother never had sex and we found you under a cabbage. All the five of you." He said, looking as she rolled her eyes.

Thirty years of marriage and he hadn't changed. It would never change. And the truth was that... she didn't want him to change. She had never wanted him to change.

"... Under a _cabbage_?" James laughed, looking at his mother as she shook her head, and then again at his father. "I told you, that wasn't a good idea to be a vegetarian, Grace!" He laughed, watching his sister as she glared at him, throwing toward him a piece of bread that hit him on the shoulder.

...

* * *

"Mom" Rachel said, appearing on the kitchen door "C'mon, hurry up, we'll all there, except for you!"

Cuddy smiled as she watched her, and wiped her hands on a dish towel.

"For what?" She asked, laughing, as Rachel dragged her by the arm in the living room.

"Family picture" She said, motioning her to go and sit near her father.

Cuddy rolled her eyes at her.

"Rachel, don't..." she said, protesting, while her daughter ignored her protests and urged her on the couch "I don't like posed pictures..." she said again, trying to dissuade her.

"I didn't tell that you have _to pose_. I told you that you _have to be into the picture_ " she said looking at her with the same look with which she usually watched her when as a child she did something wrong, but kissing her on the cheek.

Cuddy smiled and nodded, looking at Rachel as she set the camera on the fireplace in order to make a self-timer... On the fireplace... next to the pictures that were already there. The same ones that for years had been on her desk in her office at Princeton-Plainsboro.

 _The picture of her wedding._

 _The picture of House with Rachel and a very little Grace._

 _And a picture of her children._ All the five of them sat under the maple sugar tree in the garden, among red and yellow and green leaves. It was practically impossible that five children watched the camera simultaneously, and that kind of picture generally drove parents crazy. _Not her._ Rachel, almost seven years old, was the only one who smiled looking at the camera. Grace smiled, but looked at Rachel. Mia looked up at the leaves as they moved in the light wind on that late September. Sophie and James had just learned to sit and played with the leaves. James watched the one in his hands. Sophie tried to bring one in her mouth. She had snapped that photo just before she could do that.

"Ready?" Rachel said smiling finishing to fix the camera and then joining the group "Are we all here?" She said, smiling at her mother.

Cuddy turned her head meeting with House's eyes and she couldn't help but smile, slightly biting her lip, as she looked into his eyes. She knew he was thinking the same thing she was thinking right now. Memories. Indelible ones. Sweet and bitter ones... tied together... Pieces of that puzzle that was their life. A puzzle from which a piece would ever missed. Ever. Thousands of pieces of their live. Joined together to form what they had. And joined together, perhaps even more, around that missing piece.

She smiled again as she rested her head to his and he kissed her temple.

 _... No, none was missing in that picture..._

* * *

THE END

* * *

 **...**

 **Author's Note:**

 _Many thanks to all of you who followed me in these months... from the first chapter of Mothers to this ending. I want you to know that I smiled for every comment and review that you left me._

 _And... I hope to meet all of you again in my new story!_


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